Western States From The Centre Out Self Release
Hailing from St Louis, the Western States release their debut album and deliver ten songs of great atmospheric Americana. From the opener, Fire and Rage, with the “abstract mind & concrete heart” of the main character, driven by demons and inner frustrations, to the superbly delivered Give This Town Away, with dual violin parts playing off each other and the sense of never really owning the land that was taken by genocide and in settlement deals of the past – “homesteaders planted my family tree”.
All songs are written by Tim Lloyd, who also contributes on lead vocal and guitar, while the rhythm section of Joe Winze (drums, percussion, vocals) and Bryan Maness (bass) provides a really tight foundation that allows the songs to take flight. Sean Canan plays lead guitar and showcases his talents with lots of great runs and solos across the album. There are guest appearances on various tracks from Dave Grelle (Hammond B3, piano, synths), Mark Hochberg (violin & string arrangements), Paul Niehaus IV (piano, B3) and Brent Maness (backing vocal). The production of Jason McEntire (Son Volt, Bottle Rockets) is crisp and sharp with plenty of room for the players to let loose.
The drive of Gun Feels Heavy captures a local dealer trying to navigate a drop while another car blocks his progress on the backroads. It channels a Steve Earle workout and features some fine guitar breaks by Sean Canan. The Duke is a story of a boxer and his refusal to take a dive. It’s reminiscent of early John Mellencamp and really rocks out, while the song Catch You Turning Around is a slow tempo reflection of the past and an old girlfriend. Living with regret and missed chances.
I Can Get Down is an addictive rocker and deals with riverboat gambling and taking chances to change present circumstances, from being laid off to trying to get ahead when everything in life seems rigged “the game you see and the game you don’t”.
The excellent Rivers To Cross, is an advice song to a child to always believe in yourself, “Know where you stand, You’ll be just fine, When a trouble comes your way”. This has a great melody with powerful vocals and restrained guitar playing across the arrangement.
Details is another stand out track and is a story song about home-evictions. It cleverly introduces various characters, from a new tenant to a decorating contractor; a judge to a down-at-luck injured worker who is trying to make sense of his financial fall and eviction; “I ain’t livin’ my life like a detail that got missed.”
Sparks In The Wind is a great Roots Rock track that builds with hints of Springsteen in the image of oil workers in Tulsa and generations bleeding the land for industrial gain.
The final track, Fever, brings everything to a climax with a great band workout, guitars front and centre, organ swells and a powerful beat, while the memory of youthful passion comes back to haunt the now-adult, who asks: “Who am I now? Where did you go? I disappeared inside of another man’s clothes.”.
A terrific debut from a new band that really deliver a statement of intent.
Review by Paul McGee
Will Johnson Wire Mountain Keeled Scales
Based in Austin, Texas, this is Will Johnson’s 6th solo album and it was recorded at Ramble Creek Recording in Austin, Texas by Britton Beisenherz. Just shy of 40 minutes, the ten tracks have a hypnotic quality, partly due to the hushed vocal delivery of Johnson and partly because of the superbly restrained playing.
The lyrics can be somewhat obscure in their meaning and abstract thoughts arise when listening to these gently delivered soundscapes. The musicians are Will Johnson (acoustic & electric guitar, piano, percussion, vocals), Britton Beisenherz (electric bass, percussion), Thor Harris (drums, percussion), Lindsey Verrill (cello banjo, upright bass, vocals).
The album begins with a song about Fred Merkle, an American baseball player, who in 1908 committed a base-running error which led to the New York Giants losing the National League pennant that year. It’s title, Necessitarianism (Fred Merkle’s Blues), has a brooding melody and rhythm and the title refers to a person who believes that human conduct is dictated by force of circumstance (as opposed to free will) - a necessitarian.
A Carousel Victor continues in atmospheric alienation and the questions of a faint-hearted lover “A lost one longing to be, Somehow pardoned by thee.” There is a guest appearance from Jon Dee Graham who plays lap steel and electric guitar on Cornelius which is a more robust arrangement with heavy drum beat and distorted guitar setting the mood. Gasconade is a song that leaves a sense of unease with the ghostly cello and stark banjo set against a tale of possible forgiveness and redemption.
Between 1999 and 2008 Johnson released twelve albums under different names, from Centro-matic to South San Gabriel, or as a solo artist. His sparse sound and gentle way with a melody reminds me of Mick Flannery, especially on the haunting love song, A Solitary Slip, with banjo, piano and acoustic guitar setting a sombre tone.
The instrumental, Chimera, has a menace that the title conjures up in the imagination and the sweetly sombre, Need of Trust and Thunder, together with the equally rueful tone of To the Shepard, To the Lion, blend together into a sense of prolonged satisfaction. It all ends with another superbly conceived instrumental piece (You Were) Just Barely You, the perfect close to the album, with reflective piano and spectral background sounds.
Johnson also co-wrote with the late Jason Molina (Songs: Ohia and Magnolia Electric Co.) and he also had a side project with Pedro The Lion’s David Bazan when they formed Overseas with the Kadane brothers. Jim James (My Morning Jacket) also recruited him to play drums with his Monsters of Folk project, but mostly it is the music he creates as a solo artist, the moods he creates and his sad, almost resigned vocal delivery, that gives Johnson his otherworldly status among Lo-Fi Americana aficionados. His catalogue of releases is well worth investigation and carries many sublime moments, many of which are captured here on this superbly crafted album.
Review by Paul McGee
Meghan Hayes Seen Enough Leavers Self Release
So, how do you react to the reality of a marriage breakdown after 20 years? The shock of such an unexpected event can send you under for sure, but what if you use the gift of music and words as a healing balm? Therapy in the release of these tunes and ruminations that both purge and pick at the remains of what once was…
It is good to have Meghan Hayes return to the creative space that has missed her song craft. Her debut release was back in 2000 (SNOW ON THE WAVES) and was followed by a second in 2005 (GIVE THE GUARD A BREAK), but for the last number of years, Hayes concentrated on her career as a nurse while still keeping herself involved with the fringes of the Nashville music scene. The musicians who play and sing on the latest record — Audley Freed (electric guitar), Goff Moore (acoustic guitar), Tommi Rautiainen (drums), Dexter Green (bass, mellotron, piano, Wurlitzer, B3, guitar), Thayer Sarrano (pedal steel), Derry DeBorja (accordion), Jamie Rubin (electric guitar) and Mando Saenz (vocals), all turn in superbly crafted and understated performances in interpreting the ten songs featured.
From the slow, reflective opener, Georgette, with its glimpse of a poor girl trapped by circumstance, Hayes introduces the title track and the lines “Time’s the fastest thing I know, It’s run away with everything I’ve had to show, With all the months and years spent dodging your blows...” It doesn’t get more honest than this.
Burley sings about workers plight at a Kentucky tobacco harvest but could also be taken at a personal level with lines like “They tell you that you’re bleeding, But they can’t say where from…”
Potholes deals with self-doubt and relationship regret while Cora looks at the lives of a broken couple who seek a way back “Abandon all hope but keep some pride, so I might bridge that divide”.
One standout is A Birthday In The Pawnshop (Morristown), a story song that looks at family troubles that cannot be outrun and which ends in a suicide, “Rex lost it all at the greyhound track, I couldn’t have held a job if it was strapped to my back, The night before Lila reached the age of nine, I threw myself a farewell party of meth and wine…” Dark times indeed.
Second to Last Stand speaks of the fragile confidence to reinvent yourself and look to new beginnings. Next Time Around is a very personal look at marriage, the leaving and the resignation that failure brings; “Heard you’re calling this amicable to your mother, Some things just weren’t meant to be, But I don’t recall anyone serving that sentence but me”.
Her vocal is both strong and sweet with plenty of nuance and echoes of Emmylou in her delivery. Hayes also plays acoustic guitar and her overall musicality pours out through these tracks, with production by Dex Green keeping everything immediate and vibrant.
The final song, Story Of My Life, sees the need to go forward with reasons to endure and leaves a positive note to all who struggle to make sense of this crazy world we inhabit.
The writing is superb throughout and this artist has really come back into her own. I was fortunate to catch her live set at the 5-spot in Nashville as part of the recent Americana Fest and her performance was every bit as good as this album suggests. One to keep!!
Review by Paul McGee
Sofia Talvik Paws Of A Bear Makaki
Nordic Roots and Americana music is particularly well represented currently, with a growing number of artists creating waves outside their home countries. Forerunners First Aid Kit have firmly established themselves as the leading light over the past few years but other female artists such as Malin Peterson, Signe Marie Rustad, Louien (Live Mirnada Solberg) and Sofia Talvik are also producing quality material.
Sofia Talvik (pronounced tull - week) is no newcomer to recording, she has over a dozen recordings between full albums and EP’s in her back catalogue. She has also been a regular visitor to the US, having performed at Lollapalooza, SXSW and The Folk Alliance International Conference. Her 2012 tour visited 37 states over a sixteen-month period, performing over 250 concerts.
Probably best labelled 'alt-folk’, PAWS OF A BEAR is a ten-song collective of her inner thoughts and reflections. Essentially acoustic, the majority of the tracks benefit from flawless pedal steel guitar by Tim Fleming, beautifully punctuating Talvik’s crystal clear vocal deliveries. Reminiscences are the drivers behind many of the songs as Talvik revisits memories clearly deeply engrained in her memory bank. Take Me Home recalls her childhood on the island of Orust and California Snow recollects her touring exploits in the United States with husband Jonas in their camper van. Similarly Reflections reflects on ageing and the challenges it offers. I Liked You Better is possibly tongue in cheek, a reconsideration on past romances. The striking title track features vocals, acoustic guitar and dobro recorded live in one take. A gorgeous song contemplating life choices and freedom versus commitment, not surprisingly it was released as the first single from the album.
Review by Declan Culliton
Malin Pettersen Alonesome Die With Your Boots On
The lead singer with Lucky Lips, Norwegian Malin Pettersen has been hailed as possessing the greatest country voice to emerge from Europe in recent years. She is one of a number of exciting Norwegian female artists, alongside Signe Marie Rustad and Louien, that are getting deserved attention outside their homeland. ALONESOME, her debut solo album, confirms her vocal ability and dexterity across its six tracks. Anyone expecting wailing pedal steel guitar and fiddle may be a bit taken back. What is somewhat surprising is the fact that the tracks contain only Pettersen’s vocals and accompanying acoustic guitar.
She appeared with Lucky Lips at AmericanaFest in 2018 with a showcase at The Station Inn, appearing directly before Colter Wall. The appearance was not without incident as her suitcase had gone missing en route to Nashville and she had to perform in tracksuit bottoms, which was most unfortunate. Her return to the same festival earlier this year included an invitation by J.P. Harris to perform with him as part of his Why Don’t We Duet In The Road. Her appearance was hugely impressive, turning many heads at the event.
What the album does reinforce is the beauty of her vocals, no more so than on the beautiful Lonely With You and Get You Back Again. These songs and the title track also display her talents as a songwriter.
All in all, an engaging and moody introduction to an artist with endless potential. I do wonder how these tracks would benefit by the introduction of fuller instrumentation and expect that they may reappear on further releases by Petterson. In the meantime, she has an album already recorded in Nashville and scheduled for release in 2020. Watch this space.
Review by Declan Culliton
Cary Morin When I Rise Continental Song City
A member of The Crow tribe, Native Americans living primarily in Montana, Cary Morin’s musical career dates back to 1989 when he formed The Atoll. Since then he has been a member of The Pura Fe Trio and has recorded six albums including his latest release WHEN I RISE. Although predominately renowned as a fingerstyle blues guitar picker, his talents extend beyond that category and his music crosses into jazz, traditional folk and old timey country.
He latest album is a collection of twelves songs featuring two covers. The Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter song Dire Wolf and a remodelled instrumental version of Duane Allman’s Little Martha are both included. Raw traditional blues feature on the title track and Jug In The Water - which is presented twice on the album with both a fuller and stripped back versions included. Both Carmela Marie and We Used To Be are excursions into more conventional rock.
Together with vocals, Morin plays guitars and pedal steel and is surrounded by a cast of quality players that includes Paul Benjaman on guitar, Steve Amedee on percussion and Kim Stone on bass. The album represents simple music of yesteryear, transported into the present day, by a fiercely devoted artist that wears his heart on his sleeve.
Review by Declan Culliton
Jimbo Pap It Can Always Get Worse Fiesta Red
As the first song on the album name-checks Gram Parsons, you get an indication of where this California band are coming from. That song, Submission (Nice Pants), contains the tongue-in-cheek admission that “we put our pants on one leg at a time like every other fucker who wants to be Gram Parsons in Los Angeles.” It features male/female harmony vocals, pedal steel and guitar. It also sets the tone for what follows. The band started out, it seems, as something of a side project that grew into something more serious. The principles here are Jim Bowers - the band’s chief songwriter, vocalist, guitarist and pedal steel player - Pap Shiprock on vocals and piano and guitarist Bo Brannen. There is an obvious affection to the country scene in LA, which continues to thrive.
The self produced album was recorded in California with a line-up that included Glen Campbell’s son Cal on drums and vocals. He subsequently moved to Nashville and the band are working with Pete Thomas (not Elvis Costello drummer) as well as bassist Kip Boardman. In the studio they invited a baker’s dozen of additional players to help out. All of which gives the album a diverse but cohesive sound that works on both the originals and covers included here. The latter includes a great take with Shirock on lead vocals of the Vic McAlpin written and Wanda Jackson recorded Queen Of My Lonely Little World. Bobby Darin wrote the Long Time Movin’ which is a song that fits with the other material here. Yard Sale is a fun if somewhat slight, up-tempo song with a massed chorus that feels it might have originated from some old TV show in the 60s. Better overall are the heartbreak of Long Kiss Goodbye and Another Ticket On The Windshield why is a wry observation at the things that get overlooked in life, with its many distractions.
The title song is an instrumental that displays a subtle yet appealing mood. As a first step this is entertaining and has its heart firmly rooted in a time of classic Southern California country with breezy pop overtones that feel right. Jimpo Pap feel like they had fun recording this and that’s something that translates across on these 11 songs that underline that while it can always get worse, it can, on the other hand, as here, head in the opposite direction.
Review by Stephen Rapid
Allison Moorer Blood Autotelic
The back story to this album is fairly well known and has been touched on before by Allison Moorer. It is therefore an album touched with sadness, regret and melancholy. But it is also redemptive and a testament to the vocal and writing talent that Moorer has shown throughout her career. It is a murder/suicide story that has left an indelible mark on the singer’s psyche. As it also did on her older sister Shelby Lynne, who were both present at the traumatic event. Moorer has also written book Blood - A Memoir to be published to accompany this album.
She worked with producer Kenny Greenberg to realise the songs in a way that would make them memorable and meaningful. They had worked together on previous albums and Mooorer felt that he had the understanding that was necessary to the project work as intended by her. The end result is that and more, a series of songs that avoid sensationalism in favour of a certain understanding. Bad Weather opens the album and its tone is one of heartbreak and impending darkness. That darkness is further realised in the following track Cold,Cold Earth, a song that was first released as an unlisted track on her album THE HARDEST PART. Here the rerecording adds some sense of understanding that has come with time. Elsewhere there are different moods, an example being the blues of The Rock And The Hill where she takes the viewpoint of her mother who is of trying to keep things together and “tired of pushing this rock up the hill”. The vocal here’s is as emotive as it is upfront.
Throughout the album the tempos and deliveries change from bare bones to bared soul. I’m The One The Blame takes the lyrics of her father Frankiln Moorer, who had ambitions of being a songwriter but never made it work. It is set to music by her sister Shelby Lynne Moore, who is another strong presence overall on the album. She also adds vocal harmony on a number of the songs, strengthening the bond the sisters have shared throughout their lives.
The album closes in the only way that makes sense of the story in the redemptive prayer Heal, a song Moorer co-wrote with Mary Gauthier - who in the circumstances is an ideal choice. It concludes an album that is not only an artistic high point for Moorer and her songwriting, but one that in its writing has helped her to heal. It is also a body of work that the listener can learn from on many different levels.
Review by Stephen Rapid
Karen & The Sorrows Guaranteed Broken Heart Self Release
Another act based in Brooklyn, New York with a love for the sounds and stories that they discovered listening to traditional country music. The band is led by Karen Pittlemen, an openly gay singer/songwriter, who is releasing her fourth album with the Sorrows. Pittman has a country voice that has shades of Dolly Parton, amongst others, in its twang and tone. It is a testament to her talent that she has written all the twelve songs as well as producing the album. It’s therefore the perfect representation of where she is with her music and band at the present time.
The sound is a mix of electric country and acoustic balladry that should have a wide appeal. The album lists some 16 players, an indication that Pittman pulled in a seasoned set of players to record the material. The title song is full of twanging guitar and pedal steel guitar and an insistent rhythm.There You Are which follows is a dobro led acoustic set tune that highlights Pittelman’s vocal dexterity. Third Times the Charm combines the two modes together in a satisfactory way. It demonstrates why there are sixteen players involved, covering the different aspects of her writing which touches on heartbreak, always with a human condition yet not one viewed without some humour.
Queen Of Denial sees the subject listening to George Jones in sympathy with his pain, while trying to deny her own. There is again that sense of hurt in the title and message of Why Won’t You Come Back To Me. It has a sound of edginess in its yearning vocal that is matched with the sound of the dobro and fiddle. It ends in a chorus that asks why she is being send “back to hell by her little angel”.
These kinds of estranged relationships and losses are universal and therefore relevant to a range of different stories, sexualities and situations. That sense of discovering new directions for Pittleman is apparent throughout the album. An album that is about suffering through but not one that subjects the listener to that, unless in sympathy. It has the residence of the human condition at its core, resulting in a fine album of contemporary country music that sounds fitting in these stressed but hopeful times.
Review by Stephen Rapid