Amy Speace Me and the Ghost of Charlemagne Windbone
When she first arrived on the scene, back in the late 1990’s, Amy Speace was forging an independent career for herself and making a name around the New York circuit where she originally performed. As her body of work grew, the plaudits started to gather a momentum that propelled her onto greater recognition and now, seven records later, the last three produced by Neilson Hubbard in Nashville, she stands as an artist of great insight, maturity and talent.
The writing on this album is quite superb and sees Amy deliver what is very close to her most compelling, complete and resonant work to date. There is a depth that was always evident in her writing but that has now been complimented by the insights of motherhood and the creation of new life, while her Father recently passed away after illness, giving her the perspective that grief and loss bring.
Speace has always been fiercely independent and willing to walk her own path, with a look back at the journey taken and the weight of choices made, so beautifully captured on the title track of this new release “Although tonight out there I felt close to the flame, By morning I'll be hauling luggage through the rain”. It’s a wonderful opener to what proves a series of superbly crafted songs, some of which appear to address personal issues (Grace of God) and seeking to find safe harbour (Both Feet on the Ground), reflections that can surely bring resolution to any restless soul.
There are character songs, like the girl in Ginger Ale & Lorna Doones, which dissects the lonely decision that abortion brings “They take you to a separate room, To ask you if you're really sure”. Another song, Pretty Girls, may recall memories of the Janis Ian song At Seventeen but the comparison of beauty as a yardstick for success in life is tempered by the lines “ But I wonder if it's true, That maybe they are looking at me too, Wondering what the pretty girls do”.
The Dakota Access Pipeline protests of 2016 are tackled in Standing Rock Standing Here, a song that addresses the concerns of many in the Standing Rock tribe that the pipeline and its crossing of the Missouri River posed a real threat to the region's clean water and to ancient burial grounds.
The Icicle King looks at domestic violence from the innocent eyes of a child who retreats into a fantasy world of safety as “She'd hide in the bedroom since he broke the plate on the table, Porcelain pie smeared the blood on my mother's left cheek”. The sense of lost innocence is both stark and unnerving.
Back in Abilene is so poignant and sad; a slice of memory & growing up in 1960’s USA, in a small town, with innocent dreams and the price that war brings. Also, the crushing boredom of lives lived in grim frustration. Freedom beckoned with lines such as “I couldn't wait until I'd turn 18, I'd fill my car with maps and gasoline”. This theme is also the subject of Some Dreams Do which longs to roll back time to when hopes and wishes were everything “When the world was ours with just one wish, That could come true”. This And My Heart Beside channels Emily Dickenson and her poetry, quoting a verse in what is a simple love song perhaps to her Father or Husband?
The album is produced by Neilson Hubbard who also provides drums, percussion and vocals. There are guest vocal appearances from Ben Glover and Beth Nielsen Chapman and studio players are Will Kimbrough (guitars), Eamon McLoughlin (violin, viola), Dean Marold (upright bass), Danny Mitchell (piano, keyboards, horn), David Henry (cello) and support vocals from Kira Small, Lo Carter, Marcia Wilder and Natalie Schlabs across various tracks. Amy plays acoustic guitar, piano and sings like an angel throughout.
The final song is a cover of Ben Glover’s song Kindness and is directed not only to her new-born child but to all of us, in the way we negotiate our days in this divided world. Amy Speace has delivered a work of some substance and one that will endure.
Review by Paul McGee
Amy LaVere Painting Blue Nine Mile
This artist has been creating superbly honed music since her debut release in 2006. A well-respected upright bass player (and actress) who leans towards a slow Jazz-like groove, coupled with an ability to fashion great lyrics and allow her fellow musicians to fill in the spaces with intuitive playing. This is album number six and it starts with a song for our times, a cover of the John Martyn classic, I Don’t Wanna Know, which is given a slow soulful treatment with minimal guitar parts from Will Sexton and sweetly seductive bass & vocal from Amy.
No Battle Hymn follows in what is an honest look at a relationship that has run its course and where “We’re tripping on memories where nothing remains”. Girlfriends gives advice to a friend concerning a current boyfriend and to not listen to the opinions of others - to just see the real inner person, rather seeking a superficial, shiny image; “I don’t believe that he’s ever lied to you, Or meant you any blues”.
Not In Memphis is a blues-tinged song that speaks of separation and the temptation to kill the boredom with a night on the town, the achilles heel of many a relationship where absence doesn’t always make the heart grow fonder. Love I’ve Missed is a song that doubts personal feelings in a relationship where one party is holding back from being fully engaged in the whole thing.
No Room For Baby reflects on a path not taken and the regret at opportunities missed. It is a stark song with violin and cello adding to the pathos; “Maybe it was money or love I couldn’t find, Maybe I was waiting to run out of wine”.
Two more cover versions, Stick Horse Kid (David Halley) and Shipbuilding (Elvis Costello) follow; the first is a gentle sway with fine accordion playing by Rick Steff and a message to not make any plans in life and just go with the cards that you have been dealt; while the latter is a stripped back, bluesy, slow tempo rendition with Will Sexton playing so sensitively around the accordion of Steff and Amy’s resigned vocal. An anti-war song that reflects on the irony of short-term gain for long term pain.
The final track, Painting Blue On Everything, is a more up-tempo arrangement but a look at separation in a relationship and the depression suffered by one of the couple; “You’ve been sleeping with the lights on, Far from our bed and way past dawn, I sleep alone”.
The production by Will Sexton is very clean and the playing by the ensemble of musicians is nicely restrained to fit within the overall feel of this record. Amy delivers a sweetly tired vocal that suggests a knowing acceptance of the jagged edges thrown up by this world, but yet a quiet steel to always move beyond the current constraints by what lies in her path. Always interesting and so unique in her spin on life and everything after, Amy La Vere is a quiet treasure that you should discover.
Review by Paul McGee
Shawn Colvin Steady On SLC
This is the 30th anniversary of Shawn Colvin’s debut release, which won her a Grammy for the best Contemporary Folk Album of that year. Produced by John Leventhal, who also co-wrote six of the original tracks, the album hosted an array of guest artists, including Bruce Hornsby, Rick Marotta and T-Bone Wolk, with Luck Kaplansky and Suzanne Vega on backing vocals. It launched a career that, eleven albums later, has come full circle with this revisited acoustic version of the same ten songs.
No frills or extra tracks, just stripped-down guitar and voice in what is a brave reinterpretation of those times and one that inspires rather than disappoints. Her voice is as vibrant as ever, clear and strong, in support of some excellent guitar work in portraying these relationship songs of hope and regret. From being a fledgling artist finding her way to the mature & worldly-wise woman that is looking back on the years gone by, these songs have a nakedness and a resonance that still holds true.
Her career could be summed up by the song, Ricochet In Time and the lines “Ricochet in time to the music, You just pick a day and I'm in a new destination”. But perhaps when she looks back at her younger self, Shawn can contemplate the distance and the journey travelled, as Diamond In The Rough observes; “You're shining I can see you, You're smiling that's enough, I'm holding on to you, Like a diamond in the rough”. For those who have yet to discover this artist’s music there is no better place to start ironically – a 30-year look back through the rear-view mirror to her debut work.
Review by Paul McGee
Monica Rizzio Sunshine Is Free Washashore
Former member of folk/pop duo Tripping Lilly, East Texan Monica Rizzio’s second album is a return to those East Texas roots with an album that’s very much in keeping with the musical output emerging from East Nashville in recent times. This is not a surprise as Rizzio recorded the album at Nashville’s Skinny Elephant Studios and engaged Michael Rinne as producer. Rinne is very much the go to man in Nashville for artists hitting the Americana buttons, having worked with Kelsey Waldon, Erin Rae and Caroline Spence of late. Rizzio was a Nashville resident in the early 2000’s around the time that Elizabeth Cook, Hillary Lindsey and Mindy Smith were leading the charge as dominant writers in the non-commercial country scene. Smith adds backing vocals on the album and the musicians that feature are an impressive bunch of Nashville big hitters including Will Kimbrough (guitar), Evan Hutchings (drums), Spencer Collum (pedal steel) and Eamon Mc Loughlin (fiddle). Producer Rinne also plays bass on the recording.
As the title would suggest the album is about appreciating the simple things in life and this simplicity is also at the core of the album. ‘Why is it so hard to do nothin’, why do we always have to be running?’, she asks on the opening track Nothin’ and that sentiment carries right through the album. Rizzio possesses a lived in, wine and cigarettes voice, very much in keeping with the style and direction of the album. You could be forgiven for thinking the title track was a John Prine cover, it’s a happy song and catchy as hell. Story Of My New Year is a rich up-tempo rocker, Don’t Keep Me Waiting and The Real Mc Coy are Texas country barroom delights. With You, a co-write with Mindy Smith, is a gorgeous ballad.
Review by Declan Culliton
Jake La Botz They’re Coming For You Hi-Style
Actor, songwriter, blues singer and meditation teacher are a few of the strings to the bow of Chicago born Jake La Botz. His acting career has seen him perform musical parts in Animal Factory, Rambo and On The Road. He also played the part of Conway Twitty in season two of the TV series True Detective. His career in theatre found him touring the stage musical Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, written by Stephen King and John Mellencamp under the musical direction of T Bone Burnett. Alongside this heavy workload, La Botz has also recorded nine studio albums including his latest release THEY’RE COMING FOR YOU.
With a background firmly inspired by the pre - war bluesmen of Chicago, his core sound has seldom strayed too far from those influences, and in particular his time living in New Orleans. Rarely predictable or conventional, his touring profile includes his infamous Tattoo Across America Tour, performing in tattoo parlours across the US. His 2017 album SUNNYSIDE won two International Music Awards and he sticks closely to that winning formula this time around, working once again with producer Jimmy Sutton (JD McPherson, Pokey LaFarge). His sound is quite individualistic, a raw and rhythmic bluesy trawl across a collection of tales, often bizarre and often recalling the work of The Night Tripper, Dr. John. They are delivered in a vocal style that suggests a life lived to the full and very often on the wrong side of the rails.
The opener and title track is as likely to be referring to law enforcement officers as it is to underworld heavies whom the author may have fallen foul of. Music City gets a hammering on the witty Nashville Nashville ("You’re not country, you’re not rock and roll, Too arty for the blues and too dark for folk, And your pop songs are really a joke’’) and the witty Bankrobber’s Lament is a dark tale of lawlessness and guilt. Hey Bigfoot echoes Frank Zappa in both delivery and content and bonus track This Comb is a traditional Chicago blues rant.
Like chapters in a book of short stories, Jake La Botz has the ammunition to keep you turning the pages to revel in the absurd, fanciful and often comical tales.
Review by Declan Culliton
Jeremy Nail Ghost Of Love CRS
‘’Got my second wind down the open road, Carrying you with me wherever I go’’. The closing lines from the last track on the Texan’s latest album articulate his state of mind as he continues on his musical journey.
Like slipping on a comfortable pair of shoes, there’s something calmative for me about Nail’s music, which evokes images of cloudless skies, calm seas and breezeless summer days. It only seems like yesterday that we posted a review of LIVE OAK, the last album released by Jeremy Nail. The prolific songwriter, inspired by personal tragedy and subsequent recovery from cancer which resulted in amputation of one of his legs, has a lot to say and is not intent on wasting any time spreading his gospel.
A former member of Alejandro Escovedo’s band, Nail's critically acclaimed 2016 album MY MOUNTAIN dealt with the trauma of his ill health and the subsequent struggle with acceptance and recovery. GHOST OF LOVE continues where LIVE OAK left off with the ever-observant Nail creating songs inspired by simple landscapes, most probably seen in a different light since his return to full health. Like its predecessor, the album was recorded at The Zone in Dripping Springs Texas with Nail and Pat Manske co-producing. It also follows a similar path - relaxed, meditative and observational. A full moon inspired Clarksville, a dreamlike ballad that features Betty Soo on backing vocals. Equally beautiful are Windmill and the shimmering Nothing But A Song. Paradise is similarly paced and equally melodic with echoes of early Josh Rouse coming to mind.
Impressively packaged with an attractive booklet / lyric sheet, GHOST OF LOVE is another standout offering to add to your collection of 'under the radar' treasures, from an artist that you really need to get to know. Late night listening with dimmed lights and a night cap in hand.
Review by Declan Culliton
Bill Scorzari Now I’m Free Self-Release
Continuing his exploration and observations of the human condition and where it finds him now, Bill Scorzari’s new album is a testament to the stories and tales he tells here, in an often non-linear but encompassing way. Scorzari’s picture on the cover is a reflection of the age-worn voice he has. One that has all the wisdom and fragility of living with the passing of time. Added to that, his voice acts as a focal point to the understated and subtle arrangements which sit behind it.
Producer Neilson Hubbard has gathered a set of players who add a sense of objectivity to the way they play that best enhances the songs. Foremost among these musicians is Will Kimbrough on guitars and mandolin, who is joined in that role by Juan Solorzano playing alternate tracks. Hubbard plays drums alongside bassist Michael Rinne and Megan McCormick adds lap steel and (with others) harmony vocals. Many of these players are artists in their own right and so understand the nature of delivering a song.
Scorzari’s lyrics feature in a prose style in the booklet and are well worth reading. A song like Yes I Will is over ten minutes long and is a lyrical word poem that is both open and introspective. It, along with the other lyrics of the fifteen songs, do not always seem straight forward yet offer some outside observation alongside inner reflections.
That the album clocks in over 73 minutes will be a deterrent to some, or at least, too much to take in at one go. So, when you add the fact that Scorzari’s voice may be considered a little, off the beaten tracks shall we say, it means that Now I’m Free will not appeal to everyone, even those who consider themselves Americana fans. However, for those who are taken by such individual sounding voices such as Malcolm Holcombe, Sam Baker or perhaps Tom Waits then this will likely be something you will rightly savour. Something that will resonate after repeated listens that manages to draw all the creative fragmented elements into a constructive and moving whole. Remarkable even more so that the album was reportedly recorded live. An album to savour anytime it’s given the time and space for listening.
Review by Stephen Rapid
Dime Box Band Happy Avebury
One time bass player with David Gray and prior to that a member of 80s pop group Wednesday Week, Kristi Callan is continuing to make music from her home base of LA. Currently she fronts up and is the main songwriter in Dime Box Band and HAPPY is their second album.
Essentially a rootsy rock ‘n’ roll album, the sound is softened by the presence of Lyn Bertles’ inventive fiddle and mandolin playing. It’s a bit of a family affair, with Bertles’ husband Nick Vincent (Frank Black, John Fogerty) on drums and keyboards and their son, Alex Vincent, on bass. The family connection is completed by the presence of Callan’s son, James Nolte, on guitar. HAPPY explores and celebrates life’s ups and downs, with Callan’s pop credentials evident in much of the songwriting and production. There are country overtones throughout also, particularly on the upbeat opener All of Nothing, on the catchy road song As the Crow Flies and on What Went Wrong, which features lovely pedal steel from guest Matthew Davis.
Hints at a social conscience peek through on Close Your Eyes, a song for our times which describes how most people turn away from and ignore daily examples of injustice. This turns dramatically, though, to anger on Keystone which explores the thorny issue of eminent domain (compulsory purchase) which Callan’s own family have experienced in her native East Texas. It allows James to let rip on an angry electric guitar solo, leaving one in no doubt as to the depth of feeling contained therein, and unapologetically references Woody Guthrie in its refrain of “this land is your land, let’s take it back”.
Worth checking out.
Review by Eilís Boland
Robert Connely Farr & The Rebeltone Boys Dirty South Blues Self Release
Grabbing my attention from the very first track, this album will be among my picks of the year, without doubt. There’s an interesting back story behind the development of the unique and compelling sound created by Robert Connely Farr here. Now living in Vancouver, Canada he hails originally from the Deep South - Mississippi, to be exact. On a trip back home only a couple of years back, he discovered and struck up a friendship with Jimmy ‘Duck’ Holmes, who is one of the last surviving exponents of a little known style of blues called Bentonia, named after the town in which Duck still lives. Skip James is the best known of the Bentonia style players, which is dominated by more minor keys and a droning style. Farr, with Duck’s encouragement has taken the style and made it his own. He gathered a bunch of truly stellar Canadian musicians around him and, with producer Leeroy Stagger at the helm in his Rebeltone Ranch studio in Alberta, they have created a work of brooding greatness.
The title track is a fine example of that greatness- heavy electric guitar riffs (Evan Uschenko) echo Farr’s dirty deep vocals, all the while soaked in the swirling Hammond organ of Michael Ayotte. The heavy sound is matched by the lyrical content - though a Southerner by birth, Farr is not afraid to call out the murkier side of Southern culture. Magnolia (the state flower of Mississippi) is equally menacing and brooding instrumentally and lyrically- at times stark and unsettling, it starts with Farr’s acoustic guitar and builds to a crescendo with the help of inventive percussion from Kyle Harmon and Uschenko’s spiky guitar riffs - “devil in a dress with a pretty mouth, she’ll chew ya up and spit ya out”. Blue Front Cafe is a good example of the sparseness of the Bentonia sound and is a tribute to the self same oldest surviving juke joint in Mississippi, which was opened by Duck’s parents in 1948 and which is still run by him.
There’s a country flavour running throughout the material here - often recalling the Drive By Truckers or The Band. Cypress Tree Blues, Yes Ma’am and Ode To the Lonesome are good examples, demonstrating how Robert Connely Farr enriches the usually sparseness of the sound with his Southern rock sensibility.
Highly recommended for all Americana fans.
Review by Eilís Boland