David Haerle Death Valley CMH
This follow up to debut album, GARDEN OF EDENDALE (2018), is another very strong statement from a musician who knows how to play and produce any number of impressive tracks from his catalogue of self-penned songs.
Haerle was introduced to the guitar in his early teens and developed an immediate passion and understanding for the instrument. However, at the age of 24 he was compelled, upon the sudden death of his father, to take over as president of the CMH Label Group and his music career had to be put on hold. His father originally emigrated from Germany with a dream of working in the country music industry. Having arrived in the USA, he co-founded the independent label CMH Records (Country Music Heritage).
David was also influenced by his maternal grandparents who co-owned the first full time country music radio station in Nashville, WENO. In addition, Roy Acuff, the King of Country Music, took Haerle onstage at the Grand Ole' Opry before a full house when he was only 9 years of age – any wonder that the bug bit him hard as a result!
Prior to the new album, Haerle decided to release a series of singles and music videos to support the project and to gain increased media interest. Over recent months, four singles have surfaced, Go Do That With Sharon, The Free Show, Edendale and the latest track, Romy and Michelle - a look back at younger days and memories (in this case, a movie) that give touchstones to the future.
Including these songs, there are a total of 15 tracks on the new album, with a running time just shy of 60 minutes. Similar in length to his debut and a very generous package, if not for the fainthearted! It is a commitment to listen straight through but certainly worth the rewards.
The project is laced with terrific production and great musicianship, part Americana and part Rock, with a fair helping of sunny, up-tempo commercial-leaning arrangements included. As expected, Haerle leads from the front and his ability on acoustic, electric guitars and lead vocals is very impressive. He is joined on the tracks by studio musicians Alex Wand (guitar), Carson Cohen (keyboards, mandolin, bass, backing vocals), Jose Salazar (percussion), Reade Pryor (drums, percussion), Jon Lee Keenan (backing vocals), Erica Koesler (vocals), Derek Stein (cello), Ken Belcher (acoustic guitar, backing vocals), Jeremy Castillo (guitar) and Luanne Homzy (violin), all of whom add greatly to the overall dynamic sound of the production.
First three tracks, I Want To Be Like Him, The Free Show and Edendale are a gentle introduction with easy grooves before Go Do That With Sharon kicks up some dust with a more rock oriented beat that displays the excellent band work and solo skills of Haerle on guitar. The nostalgia of Romy and Michelle is captured so well and the bass playing is to the fore in leading the melody and rhythm along. Also, Forgiving Myself is similar with the band interplay superbly pinned by the rhythm, a song about self-acceptance, forgiving yourself and developing a self awareness that Haerle injects into his daily life.
Ms Bell is about accepting the things that you have, the choices made and the road not taken. Smoggy Days is a trip down memory lane, taking the good from what was not always a happy time and seeing how it formed the person in adulthood. It is a rock-based tune that is very strong. Tellers really attacks with a look at bombastic, self-absorbed people, only interested in self-promotion.
The Groove Of the Record has a great melody with s fine guitar break – a song that looks at repeating old habits and being stuck in a rut. Perfect Lover has nice keyboards as it tells of a secret crush and an imagined romance. Also, Run and Be Free, more warm keyboard sounds and a gentle groove with its message of not letting ambition take over the need for inner joy and the cost paid if you let it.
The title track has some superb ensemble interaction with the fiddle of Luanne Homzy soaring above the arrangement, making me wonder why she was not given a greater role in the other songs featured on this release. Her contribution on the debut album was much greater and her playing was a joy. Final track Eureka is an instrumental guitar piece that again highlights the skills of David Haerle and his excellent technique and touch. Something for everyone across these tracks and a very expansive offering to all who want to feel that sun on their skin as they relax into mellow moods and quality sounds.
Review by Paul McGee
Stevie Ray Latham & The Nomads of Industrial Suburbia Self Release
This is the second EP in as many years from the creative musical mind of an artist who always surprises and who displays a playful approach to his creative muse. Starting out with La Forêt, a simple instrumental of just over one minute, it is delivered on what sounds like a toy xylophone, with a soft mandolin strum in the background.
Everything Changes is a track that looks at the steady nature of a trusted lover while everything else is in a state of constant change, it’s easy melody echoing the sentiment in the song. Half way through the track there is a build towards a wall of sound dynamic, before it all breaks down again in the final minute of reflective guitar strum and background sounds.
Thief has a great rock groove, wrapping a vocal delivery which resonates with a fuzz tone and an insistent backbeat that winds through the arrangement. Madeline is a quiet acoustic melody that drifts gently along with some nice touches from keyboard effects. The final track, I Don’t Mind, has a brooding guitar sound with a change toward the end that breaks down the track and delivers a more even-paced finale.
Sixteen minutes of engaging music that always keeps the interest and again points to an artist with much to offer.
Review by Paul McGee
Shayna Sands Motions Of The Day Self Release
This debut EP is one that announces the song-writing talents of an artist that grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas. Her subsequent travels gave the necessary experience and perspective to infuse the creation of these five tracks with something that is very much her own and rooted in a mix of blues and country noir. The almost-spoken word delivery of first track, 3417, lends a deadpan air to the atmosphere created, which is then cut with an intriguing mix of trumpet, cello and harmonica in a dynamic that brings everything vividly to life. The title is a house number in the Texas city of Longview where the occupant holds dark secrets and lost children run through the imagery.
The title track has lovely cello from David Lescalleet IV with a trumpet part that conjures up a Tejano feel. The backing vocals of Victoria Majors are very understated, yet add a great atmospheric to the arrangement. If You Don’t Mind has a torch song influence and laid-back delivery, that sits perfectly into a bored chanteuse whispering her regrets and wishes to drift away in dreams of freedom. The keyboard sound of producer Ben Howard is reminiscent of an old Farfisa instrument with backing vocals channelling the hint of 50’s night club smoke filled rooms.
Secret Pain has John Macy playing superb pedal steel while the harmonica of Shayna slides around the edges of the melody. It’s a song about false promises and shady characters who are never what they seem. Final song, Heart Beat, is a treat with the violin of Jacob Lipman perfectly capturing the noir feel of love and delirium mixed into a lethal cocktail. Throughout, the thoughtful and winning delivery from Jm Muniz (bass) and Cody Strong (drums) fuels the song arrangements and does not get in the way by overplaying at any turn.
An atmospheric, confident debut and hinting at next steps that will gain this interesting talent even greater exposure to a wide audience.
Review by Paul McGee
Molly Maher Follow Real Phonic
There’s a fairly diverse mix of sounds on this album. It opens with an instrumental Jango, which is wide open to interpretation, without really giving anything away about what is to follow. However, the second track really captures your attention. Run, Run, Run, like all the compositions on the album, is written by Maher (though in this case it is a co-write, as are 6 of the other songs featured). It is a single taken from the album and undoubtably a highlight of the album. It has a strong chorus that resonates over the guitars, bass and drums setting. It also has a solid hook that is memorable and a video to go along with it to also offer a visual dimension. But that’s far from the only track worthy of attention as it is just one of a number of tracks that are a part of the overall picture such as Bird Song (I’ll Follow You) with additional Spanish vocals and lyrics from Iraida Noriega, Pale Face River and the more experimental Open Road.
FOLLOW is her fourth album and first since 2011 so it feels like a certain amount of reassessment and reflection - not to mention financing that went on during the gap. It again sees the Minnesota artist working with co-producer Eric Koskinen, who also adds guitars, percussion and vocals throughout. The duo bring much to the process, delving into a number of loosely Americana based sources such as rock, soul, country and sounds from further afield like the tablas on StormCloud and the touches from south of the border. It has been noted that both waited a long time to be able to make this amalgam of sounds work in a way that is not confusing but rather cohesive. She had apparently recorded an album some years back that was unreleased because it wasn’t, in the end, what she what she hoped or wanted.
That kind of commitment to one’s legacy is not always easy to find, but attest to an artist seeking to better their chosen craft. There are influences she absorbed after a break travelling through Mexico that are subtlety applied with hints of early Calexico but without using the obvious route of Mariachi style horns or accordion. The end result is a testament to a strong artistic vision, that rewards the listener with a set of songs that benefit from repeated listening as little touches are revealed. That make it well worth it to follow Molly Maher in what she has done here and may do in the future.
Review by Stephen Rapid
Emily Duff Born On The Ground Self Release
This self released album offers a robust sound from a fine studio band fronted by seasoned singer/songwriter Emily Duff and offers some rough and ready rock ’n’ roll, laced with some country rock and soul. It includes a set of songs that takes a hard look at relationships from both sides of the love/loathe fence, but from a mature and self-confident perspective. Titles such as We Ain’t Going Nowhere, There Is No Way Out, Killer and Knuckle Sandwich underline the notion that life can be tough but conversely the tough can have a life.
Duff has been releasing albums through the years starting in 2015 with her debut solo album GO TELL YOUR FRIENDS. MAYBE IN THE MORNING followed in 2017 and HALLELUJAH HELLO (2019) being the most recent. So, this is Duff further exploring her sound and muse. One that has been likened to a number of diverse names that can easily be related to but are largely subjective depending on individual interpretation. This is usually a combination of strong women and classic rock sounds - both of which seem appropriate. It is that blend of insight that comes with age set against a tough mental stance and some rock ’n’ roots swagger.
Not that everything is full tilt, as with Knuckle Sandwich for instance, there is a lot of variation within these nine songs. The titles Born On The Ground and especially the final song Forever Love are examples that reveal a side to them that balances the toughness of the music with a more nuanced delivery and strong sense of melody. The overall album works as a unit, with a couple of the songs offering a sense of immediacy and coming through as universally accessible.
The production by Eric “Roscoe” Ambel is spot on and perfect to bring these songs to fruition. He and Duff have brought her regular band and guests into the Brooklyn studio to give them clarity and cohesion. Guitarist Scott Aldrich, bassist Skip Ward, keyboard player Charlie Giordano and drummer Kenny Soule are joined by Amber and a selection of backing vocalists - Mary Lee Kortes, Sad Straw and Tricia Scotti, to all add additional layers to the overall delivery. This is a testament to all involved and a fine slice of contemporary roots-rock from a strongly personal point of view.
Review by Stephen Rapid
India Ramey Shallow Graves Self Release
On my initial listening I really liked the sound of this album it. First and foremost, it has Ramey vocals front and centre and behind that an interesting mix of traditional country, folk, Americana noir with some southern-gothic allusions in the interesting, memorable song selection. This is her fourth album release and follows on from her last album SNAKE HANDLER. An album produced, as is this latest release, by Mark Petaccia in the House Of Blues studio in Nashville. This one features the work of the Medders brothers, who grew up in Georgia as did Ramey and who are namely Will on drums, Carson on guitar and bassist Cheyenne. There is also a contribution from fellow artist Brian Wright, who added lap steel on The Witch.
Ramey was in previous life an attorney who dealt with abuse cases, so she has doubtless seen some of the darker sides of life and she perhaps channels some of that into some of these lyrical journeys which see her looking for a good time in Up To No Good. On this track she is warned that “nothing good happens after midnight” but that is something that she “exactly had in mind.” The title song and the current single King Of Ashes deal in elements of darker behaviours. The latter seems very prescient in these times of how silence is complicit in some abuse situations by noting that “pain is the gasoline and silence is the matches.” Elsewhere Ramey viewpoint takes in the strange world around her and in Debutante Ball, where? the focus is on perception, privilege and hypocrisy in the Bible Belt’s regions of area and mind.
Something closer to home is the loss of a close friend Gordon Downie to cancer. He was the frontman in Tragically Hip and Hole In The World is a touching tribute to him and is played down with a restrained and melancholic violin-led song which has a universality in message. Moving on in another sense is the theme of Montgomery Behind Me. The album closes with the very suitable choice overall of the Hank Williams Snr song Angel Of Death which given the album’s title and overall mood seems to make a lot of sense. Ramey has aimed a lot of these songs against the way that a certain elite and strata of society feel that they own their moral high ground and the right to have their perceived lifestyle of wealth and power.
Aside from that sense of injustice, there is also a sense of vibrancy and hope and, well, a just uplifting sound that Ramey, Petaccia and the others have imbued this recording. In the end, even if you don’t take in all of its lyrical libretto, this is an album to admire for what it lays before you in terms of sound and attitude that is far from shallow.
Review by Stephen Rapid
Secret Emchy Society The Chaser Self Release
One of the figureheads in the Queer Country movement, Cindy Emch’s latest album, with her long-time band Secret Emechy Society, cuts across just about every component of country music. The album twangs, croons, surfs, shuffles and aches in equal doses. There is also humour alongside heartache on the eleven tracks, which recollect her own often eventful past life, and experiences of her and her bandmates from their road travels. Emch’s voice is broad and lived in and gives the impression of having endured the sentiment of many of the songs that feature.
Booze features across a number of the songs, quite a number in fact, some tongue in cheek and some with a more solemn content. Much of the backdrop to the stories feature barrooms, the classic country venues for finding loving, drowning sorrows and getting into drunken brawls. Howlin’ Sober at The Moon and the driving Whiskey Fightin’ Terri fit the latter whereas the carefree I Get Drunk takes a more light hearted look at the imbibing tradition.
The title track, a slick country ballad, finds her looking in the mirror, dwelling on past memories and accepting her ‘thrill seeking’ personality. Leavin’ Powell River and Hell Is A Hard Place are jaunty Bakersfield sounding up-tempo tracks. You could be forgiven for thinking you were approaching a novelty album before you pop THE CHASER into your player. It’s much more than that and is loaded with catchy hooks and easy on the ear melodies.
Emch is very much a leader in the Queer Country movement and is editor of Country Queer magazine, whose logo is ‘Bringin’ the goods to the LGBTQ country music family’. THE CHASER is an album that should find wide appeal way beyond the community that she initially targets. Have a listen and make your own mind up.
Review by Declan Culliton
My Girl The River Cardinal In The Snow Independent
Consisting of Louisiana born artist Kris Wilkinson and UK bass player Joe Hughes, My Girl The River’s latest album is a collection of songs with themes that consider expectation, mortality and prediction.
Wilkinson was formerly a member of roots bands Perfect Strangers and For Kate’s Sake, whereas Hughes musical career started as part of the punk band The Flys. They joined forces and created the folk-rock duo Cicero Buck and released three full albums and one EP. 2012 saw the emergence of My Girl The River, with the duo slightly rebranding their core sound and morphing more towards Americana territory. They celebrated the new venture with their debut album THIS AIN'T NO FAIRYTALE in 2016.
Produced by Neilson Hubbard, the album features twelve songs penned by the duo and boasts an impressive collection of contributing musicians. Together with his production duties, Hubbard also adds drums and is joined by Will Kimbrough (guitar, mandolin, glockenspiel, piano), Danny Mitchell (piano) and Juan Solorzano on steel and electric guitars.
The album’s title refers to the distinctive bird of the same name. Something In The Water opens the album in fine style, layered vocals and slick guitar work combine alongside a rap verse. The track also features their 14-year-old daughter Ruby Kate on ukulele. He Doesn’t Know He’s Gone is a gentle ballad written in honour of singer songwriter Tommy Keane, who passed away in his sleep in 2017. You Do Not Deserve My Tears is a powerful anthem and a defiant statement, more straight rock than Americana. Needy is a jaunty reminder to prioritise the important things in life and discard the trivial. Won’t Find Our Bones delivers a funky reggae-like slow rolling groove, depicting a scene of impending death in the wilderness.
Loaded with positive energy CARDINAL IN THE SNOW ticks a lot of boxes. Impressive songs, excellently delivered vocally by Wilkinson with equally striking playing throughout, result in an album that fully deserves your attention.
Review by Declan Culliton
Emily Zuzik Torch & Trouble Maenades Music
Vocalist and song writer with the San Francisco alt-country band SexFresh in the late 1990’s, Los Angeles based Emily Zuzik’s career as a solo artist has delivered an impressive stockpile of albums since her debut solo album THE WAY IT’S GOT TO BE in 2003. During this period, she has also collaborated with a wide range of artists from Moby to Shooter Jennings' bass player Ted Russell Kamp, who produced her latest album and co-wrote three of the ten tracks.
What unfolds on the album is an easy on the ear collection of guitar driven rockers, alongside some more relaxed ballads that hit home from the word go. The more up-tempo tracks include Stay Wild and the Alanis Morissette sounding Trouble complete with impressive crunching guitar breaks from John Schreffler, another artist that performs with Shooter Jennings. Slipping down the gears to a more serene sound, both Magic and Embers, the latter a duet with Russell Kamp, are tender ballads and the more expansive Wild Mustang Across The Great Plains is the album standout. Shadows, written by Yo La Tengo and the only cover on the album, gets a poignant re-modelling.
There’s much to enjoy about TORCH & TROUBLE, particularly Zuzik’s rich vocals and the exceptional musicianship and production throughout. Comparisons with the work of Sheryl Crow surface across much of the album which, in itself, is a high recommendation.
Review by Declan Culliton