Gwil Owen Flying Dream Rambler
First album in awhile from noted songwriter Gwil Owen, an artist who has three previous albums to his credit. Previous co-writes by him include A Soft Pace To Fall written with and performed by Allison Moorer and Duece And A Quarter co-written with Kevin Gordon and recorded by Scotty Moore with Keith Richards. FLYING DREAM was recorded in Nashville (in several people’s homes). It features some fine playing from the likes of the ubiquitous Will Kimbrough on guitars, Rick Lonow on drums and pedal steel and saxophones from Jim Hoke alongside a host of other musician’s contribution on keyboards, trumpet, bongos, viola, and cello. They all join Gwil who plays guitar, bass, keyboards, synth, banjo as well as handling vocals. Brydget Carrillo adds harmony vocals on several tracks. The album is dedicated to the late Dukes bassist Kelley Looney. Another casualty who featured on the album on two songs he co-wrote (Hamster Wheel and Innocent Heart) with Owen, is the late David Olney.
On the more uplifting moments the album covers a broad base of Americana-ish sounds. Faith Enough takes its faith from the belief of another person in their relationship and features Jim Hoke’s pedal steel guitar giving it a sense of fluid truth. I Would Lie is the confession of a serial deceiver that features Kimbrough’s hardened guitar. Carrillo’s background vocals are very much a feature of Diggin’ A Hole which has a solid groove. Cinnamon Sparkles is a piece of pop rock with a strong chorus that again sees Carrillo melding with Owen on the vocals. Hamster Wheel is a little darker which considers the repetition of life when one feels “like a hamster on a hamster wheel.” It uses a distorted vocal and Olney’s harmonica to give it a more disquieting tone. Ivy follows and it reminds me of another song which I can’t quite place at time of writing but is one of the most immediate songs on the album and almost power pop in its execution and affection for the lady in question. Money’s Tight, given its title, is harder overall. Moth Without A Flame offers the perspective of a man without the object of his desire and is bolstered by brass in its soul-tinged setting. More direct is Innocent Heart which is has another fine Owen vocal and features Owen and Olney on guitar, with some cello to give the simple basket some added texture. In an equally non-electric mode Heaven with slide guitar, banjo and viola, has a 60s folk-rock (Kaleidoscope) patina in a plea for freedom. Adrianna again focus on the love of a woman and has a lighter touch. The title track closes the album in something of a rock-baroque parameter without? over doing the sentiment of the song.
FLYING DREAMS is something of a mixed bag of ideas that is held together by Owen’s vision and songwriting skills. It has been executed with a lot of consideration from the players to give these songs the best possible realisation in the circumstances that they were recorded in. It is therefore a testament to all involved and an album that has much to recommend it.
Review by Stephen Rapid
Nathan Kalish Songs For Nobody Self-Release
I had not heard of Nathan Kalish prior to receiving this album (his 10th it seems, from some online posts but its hard to find a definite list). He is something of a road warrior, touring on a fairly constant basis with his band The Last Callers. On the strength of this album it sounds as though I have been missing out. Kalish, it would appear, has sported a number of different looks prior to this release which sees him clean shaven and groomed compared with the main picture on his web site and other online images. So perhaps the music has also taken a different direction than on his previous recordings. Either way, it is a good album in itself.
The songs, like those of many of his contemporaries, look to the darker corners and to those living on the fringes. In his travels as a musician he is perfectly placed to see and hear the tales of those who are disenfranchised and disheartened. For this album Kalish has opted for a more solo vision and has gathered around him a set of seasoned players and members of his current band, all of whom were able to give these songs an extra layer of conviction and skill. Former Sturgill Simpson and now Drivin’ & Cryin’ guitarist Laur Joamets features on two of the songs, but the core musicians of bassist Karen Allen, Nathan Baker on guitar and mandolin, drummer Danny Pratt and Adam Kurtz on pedal steel as well as vocalists Lucy B. Cochran and Miriam Speyer are also central to the sound of these new songs alongside Kalish. The majority of the album was given an added spontaneity by being recorded live in the studio.
All of the songs are Kalish’s compositions with the exception of one (Delta Woman) which was completed from a set of unfinished lyrics hand-written by Johnny Cash and found in a friend’s apartment. The title song directly relates to the time Kalish has spent traveling - playing gigs in often foreign towns, finding some elements of humanity whilst on the road and having to eat in some less than enthralling roadside cafes. No Hope offers clear support for those who end up with that sense of hopelessness and desperation in their lives, after they have given as much as they can. Equally Pam & Tim is a similarly honest assessment of small town living. The album closes with Wino Christmas - another hard look at a particular time and place that results in some difficult reminiscences. All of these elements make this, in fact, a set of songs for everyone who likes their music real with a hard coating of country music in several forms.
Review by Stephen Rapid
Various Artists Whiskey Preachin’ (Vol. 1) Whiskey Preachin’
Starting a new record label and especially one devoted to “21st century honky tonk for the outlaw dance floor” might be a risky business in this day and age but that doesn’t stop it from being one worthy of support and investigation. There is a selection of 12 tracks that fit the brief and the mood is upbeat and rockin’. So here’s what you get on your vinyl: Mayeux & Broussard Kool & Handsome, James Scott Bullard Jesus, Jail Or Texas, Kathryn Legendre Going Crazy, Eleven Hundred Springs Arcadian Thruway, The Rhyolite Sound Setting Me Up, Darci Carlson Rat City Bound, Ole Whiskey Revival Ramblin’, The Reeves Brothers C.C. Waterback, Kristina Murray Lovers & Liars, Ted Russel Kamp Get Off The Grid, Weldon Henson Sleep All Day, and Croy And The Boys (If I Knew What I Had To Give Up) I Never Would Have Fallen In Love.
As with any compilation, every listener will have a subjective reaction to the individual tracks and artists, and that may in fact depend on the time and place of listening. It is largely, as indicated, aimed at the dance floor and is not without its rough and ready charms. The ones that immediately hit the spot here for me were: Arcadian Thruway from Eleven Hundred Springs, Kathryn Legendre’s Going Crazy and the expletive laden Southern country blues boogie of Rat City Bound from Seattle’s Darci Carlson. Then there's the Texas made world ready hard country of Weldon Henson with Sleep All Day or the solid hard floor warning from Croy and The Boys with (If I Knew What I Had To Give Up) I Never Would Have Fallen In Love. Having made those choices for this listener, there is nothing here that you wouldn’t want to hear.
The label is just one component of the Whiskey Preachin’ empire. It is based in Brighton and run by Tony Sexton and Reinhard Holstein (who also founded Glitterhouse Records). As well as this introductory compilation, they are releasing Las Vegas based The Rhyolite Sound’s Majove Gold album both on CD and vinyl. There is also an online magazine and a radio show involved. There is an interview with Olaf Jens by Chris Sick, both of whom are talented illustrators whose work is well worth viewing. But it's the music we are directly concerned with here and this will appeal to any whiskey preachin’, outlaw boogeying, honky tonkin’, Southern rockin’, hillbilly punkin’ person of that persuasion.
Review by Stephen Rapid
Paul Burch & The WPA Ballclub Light Sensitive Glider/Plowboy
Like his first three albums this one is credited to Burch and his team of cohorts, The WPA Ballclub. This is his 12th album and I have most of them in my collection and have enjoyed them all, from PAN AMERICAN FLASH and WIRE TO WIRE when Burch was a leading light in the resurgence of some real and traditionally-minded roots/country music, in the early days of the resurgence of what is now the tourist destination that is Lower Broadway in Nashville. Since that time he has continued to develop a unique voice, in what is an amalgamation of numerous stylistic nuances that draw from the past to bring it into the future.
He is also a storyteller of some talent, often basing his albums on pre-existing texts such as with THE LAST OF MY KIND (songs inspired by the book Jim The Boy by Tony Earley) or on his recent MERIDIAN RISING album where the songs relate to an imagined visit of Jimmy Rodgers to Manhattan. This new album has been described as twelve parables about living in the modern South. From the opening moments of Love Came Back you know you are in Burch country, with his distinctive voice joined by the harmony vocals of Carey Kotsionis over a drum, bass and edgy guitar backing. Typical of Burch, the next track is a blend of Calypso and Dixieland jazz with clarinet and tenor sax setting the tone. It tells us that Mardi Gras emanated originally from Mobile, Alabama and not from New Orleans as is generally thought. Jean Garrigue uses tenor sax again but in a more subtle jazz pose and features another fine vocal from Burch, who shows himself capable of subtlety and nuance in his delivery. Fool About Me swings along nicely with a 50s retro feel. Glider is a cool lounge pool instrumental. But all these tracks run in a seamless musical adventure, with at times a quirky lyrical diversity that will be familiar to Burch aficionados.
Production is shared between Burch and Dennis Crouch who is also the WPA bassist here. Other members of the team include Fats Kaplin, Jen Gunderman, Chloe Feoranzo and Justin Amaral, and Luther Dickinson guests on slide guitar for one track. There is a vocal appearance too from Robyn Hitchcock as an airport voice announcer on Flight To Spain - which offers something of a brief history of that country over a suitably reverb laden travelogue. Burch again contributes his usual mix of instruments to the recording including guitar, bass, drums, Wurlitzer and pedal steel guitar. All of this again underlines his vision and talent as a underrated musician and innovator in the bigger scheme of things.
Review by Stephen Rapid
Possessed By Paul James As We Go Wandering PPJ
A special education teacher and musician, Konrad Wert returned to the studio after two throat surgeries and a few years break from performing and recording. Under his stage name Possessed By Paul James (his grandad’s name was Paul and his father’s middle name was James), AS WE GO WANDERING delivers considered folk songs alongside some wild rambunctious back porch escapades. Wert has managed to produce a fluid collection of songs, not always alike yet sitting comfortably beside each other. Growing up amidst a Mennonite community in Southwest Florida, his initial exposure to music was primarily roots based. On leaving home, he embraced punk music with open arms, feasting on the sounds and attitude of Patti Smith and Iggy Pop. Like so many left of centre country acts, the influences of both roots and punk are unmistakeable on his output.
The album is very much a commentary on the strange times we live in, uncanny by times, with both tracks Be At Rest and When It Breaks even more relevant today than when written by him last year.
It explodes with the opener Come Back To My Mind, riotous fiddle and banjo flanking Wert’s semi-screaming vocals. On the same page is the lover's call Dance With Me Tonight and the similarly themed Don’t Tell Me which features only his voice and strummed banjo. More conventional folk songs included are In The Dark Of Morning and the aforementioned When It Breaks.
With his nine to five job as an educator, Wert is best placed to gauge the concerns and anxieties visited on both his students and their parents. He does not declare to have all the answers and AS WE GO WANDERING asks more questions than offering solutions. ‘’It’s important for us to acknowledge the good, the bad and the ugly. We are more than just ourselves’’ advises the press release than accompanies the album. Truer words were never spoken.
Review by Declan Culliton
Lawrence County The Frailty Of Humans Self Release
Inspired to create their own musical landscapes in 2008, having discovered The Felice Brothers debut album TONIGHT AT THE ARIZONA, Al Rate and Bill Kerry III formed DH Lawrence & The Vaudeville Skiffle Show. They followed a matching approach to The Felice Brothers, shared vocals, banjos, fiddles and accordions, creating a sound that channelled roots music down a path that also embraced U.K. folk. Residing in Bagthorpe Delta, Nottinghamshire proved no deterrent to creating a musical racket more likely to have been cultivated in the Catskills Mountains.
Their 2016 release SONS & LOVERS gained high praise from No Depression and they continued to attract a growing following for their lively stage shows. They re-branded in 2019 while in the process of recording THE FRAILTY OF HUMANS, slightly tweaking their signature sound while not straying too far from the Americana household. The album features twelve tracks with the song-writing credits shared by Rate and Kerry, they also go fifty - fifty on much of the instrumentation, both playing guitar and banjo. The other band members include Charlotte Pynegar on guitar and backing vocals, Maz Clarke on backing vocals, Martin Gallimore on fiddle, accordion and piano, Peter Heron on bass and Bob Carlisle on percussion.
What’s on offer on this album is a potent serving of all things Americana, featuring the dark and broody, They’re All There, alongside the honky tonk tongue in cheek romp I Don’t Sing Country Anymore - think Robbie Fulks at his most caustic. Bye Bye Americae is equally irreverent, with everything thrown into the mix including banjo, fiddles, brass and even police car sirens and voice overs. The Felice Brothers influence is often close to the surface and no more so that on By The Briar. It’s a dreamy slow burner featuring Kerry on lead vocal duetting seductively with Clark.
This Is How We Do It In The Country kicks off in Willard Grant Conspiracy gloomy style with only vocal, banjo and fiddle. It’s a dark and murderous affair that changes direction mid song into an up-tempo stomp, while remaining dark and menacing. The equally disturbing English traditional murder ballad Lucy Wan - which also includes some grisly skulduggery - gets an impressive makeover.
THE FRAILITY OF HUMANS - great title by the way - is far from a Saturday night party album. However, it’s a well-crafted body of songs that grab your attention on first play and sound better on each subsequent revisit.
Review by Declan Culliton
Western Centuries Call The Captain Free Dirt
It’s business as usual from Seattle based roots band Western Centuries. CALL THE CAPTAIN is the third release from them following on the footsteps of SONGS FROM THE DELUGE (2018) and WEIGHT OF THE WORLD (2016) and it’s a worthy successor to both of those albums.
The term supergroup is hardly an exaggeration to describe the five-piece band. With three songwriters and lead vocalists to call on, Ethan Lawton, Jim Miller and Cahalen Morrison, things could have turned out somewhat disjointed. However, once again they have managed to deliver a collection of songs that work seamlessly as a unit. As on their previous recordings, the song-writing duties are democratically shared, with each of the three contributing four songs. The twelve tracks that feature cover a wide territory from lost love to more immoral issues, intelligently written and not without splashes of humour. The two remaining band members are Nokosee Fields and Thomas Bryan Eaton, who co-produced the album with Grammy nominated Bill Reynolds, whose previous employers included Band of Horses (he also played bass with them). Eaton - who produced the superb recent album THE MOON IS AN ASHTRAY by Miss.Tess - also adds divine touches of pedal steel on every track.
A thumping drum beat kick starts the album’s opener, Lifeblood Sold, before Miller’s vocals kick in. It’s an upbeat song with a theme of resilience and features some neat fiddle from guest player Oliver Bates Craven. Space Force is on the same page, a jaunty driving sound that has echoes of The Band and ridicules Trump’s notion of creating another military branch. (‘We’ll cruise around the galaxy, taking all the bad guys down. Our crimes will be forgiven, cause the Space Dogs are back in town’) Americana godfather Jim Lauderdale and Jim Miller previously worked together in Donna The Buffalo, the band founded by Miller, and Lauderdale adds backing vocals and takes lead vocal on the final verse. Dynamite Kid, Sarah & Charlie and No Cure are trademark Western Centuries sounds, country roots at its toe tapping finest, fiddle breaks and pedal steel touches a plenty. Every Time It’s Raining and Barcelona Lighthouse find them exploring country soul territory.
They also leave room for some touching ballads. All The Things I Could Say To You Right Now features Lawton on lead vocal and Morrison takes the honours on equally moving album closer Before That Final Bell.
Western Centuries forte is their capacity to combine the key elements of traditional country and rhythm and blues, with skilled song-writing and gifted playing. They’ve achieved that and more again this time around with this hugely enjoyable album, which I’ll no doubt be returning to on a regular basis in the coming months.
Review by Declan Culliton
John Jenkins and the James Street Band Looking For That American Dream Self Release
John Jenkins is a singer-songwriter who resides in Liverpool and has a number of albums to his name. The James Street Band include Denis Parkinson (guitars and vocals), David Nixon (harmonica, percussion and vocals), Dave Orford (drums and vocals), Steve Atkinson (bass), Lee Warren Shone (keyboards), with Jenkins contributing guitar, keyboards and vocals. As a veteran of many years in the business and different bands, Jenkins knows his way around a studio and this release is testament to his writing skills and his co-production, with Jon Lawton, at the helm.
This release dates back to June 2019 but is only reaching me now – better late than never. The 13 songs are very engaging and the ensemble play with great colour and range, abetted by an additional eight musicians who visited the studio to augment the overall sound (four backing vocalists, plus added instruments like banjo, keyboards).
Roundabout is a great song and instantly recognisable as a wry look at time-pressured couples, holding down two jobs and trying to get by. Ghost in the Bar rocks out in style and the Sam Cooke tribute is just that; a love letter to a golden voice of the past. Can You Hear Me? Is written in memory of his Dad and The Forgotten Man is something that I don’t believe could ever be said of this talented musician who creates easy on the ear, melodic music that never fails to please.
Review by Paul McGee
Michael McMillan Missing Person Self Release
This is the fifth album of gentle songs, sweetly sung, by a musician who has been releasing music since his debut in 2007. He writes from the heart and uses true life stories as the inspiration for many of the songs. There is a knowing melancholia in tracks like The Only Word, So Many Thorns and A Better Place but there is an important message to us all in remembering the marginalised and the lost in society.
McMillan composes in a very direct and honest manner, never afraid to call it like he sees it – with plenty of loving awareness in his words along the way. As he says in the liner notes, “While you are waiting for your miracle, be a miracle for someone else.” Wait For Me is a poignant tale of a deceased partner and the grief left behind while, You Are, is a tribute song to a loved one who brings light and happiness.
The album was recorded at EssGee Studios in Glasgow with the talents of Sam Gallagher who both produced and contributed as a musician to the project. McMillan wrote all twelve tracks and with no information regarding other players on the album, I have to assume that both musicians played the majority of the instruments featured. Worthy of your time.
Review by Paul McGee