Bill Kirchen The Proper Years Last Music Co.
This 2CD collection - as per its title - relates to Bill Kirchen’s three albums that were released in the UK via Proper Records. The albums are HAMMER OF THE HONKY-TONK GODS, WORD TO THE WISE and SEEDS AND STEMS. Some 38 tracks are included in total and it’s something of a statement of Kirchen’s talent that there are few, if any, duds included. It is also testament to his skills as a master of the Telecaster, a versatile and veritable singer, as well as a songwriter of some note. It is also a walk through the varied and alluring aspects of roots music.
There is a wealth of talent involved in these recordings. Included are the best of the London-based players in Nick Lowe, Geraint Watkins, Paul Carrack, Paul Riley and Elvis Costello. Added to this from the other side of the pond are the likes of Dan Hicks, Austin de Lone, Cindy Cashdollar, Jack O’Dell, Johnny Castle, Norton Buffalo, Blackie Farrell, Gurf Morlix and Maria Muldaur. All of these musicians sound as if they are there for a good time and to make good music.
The song writing credits include Bill Kirchen obviously, with over 20 songs to his name, either solo or with a number of different co-writers. There is also some well chosen material from the pens of the likes of Shorty Long, Arthur Alexander, Donny Fritts, Butch Hancock, Merle Haggard, Roger Miller and Bob Dylan. All are selected to suit the particular musical setting that serves the song best.
It’s difficult to review this in a totally fresh way, having been well acquainted with the original albums on their release. However, it does serve to remind me why I liked them at the time and why I am enjoying them so much again now. The amalgam of talent, all with their collective hearts in the right place, is a pleasure to hear at any time. I expect that even listeners who are looking for something more contemporary or even with a more explicitly retro vibe, will find something on the collection that will appeal to them. Those who have never listened to the music of Bill Kirchen previously will be in for a treat.
Kirchen has released some nine other albums under his own name, as well as recording with Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, The Moonlighters and Nick Lowe. If one was to highlight one particular track that underlines his abilities it would be his version of Hot Rod Lincoln, especially live, where his Telecaster is used to play the signature sounds and licks of a great many guitar legends and singers, as well as his own high-speed picking. Those guitarists (and pianist and singers) include Duane Eddy, Luther Perkins, Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins, Buck Owens, Merle Travis, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, Link Wray, BB King, Ritchie Blackmore, Keith Richards, Steve Jones and Jimi Hendrix among others. While this may be a novelty song it’s fun none-the-less - something that is at the heart of what Kirchen does. The album also includes a trio of unreleased songs which close the collection. The final one being a version of the The Times They Are A-Changin’ that ends the album on a positive note - as is totally proper.
Review by Stephen Rapid
Blackbird & Crow Ailm MIG
From the opening spoken word of Harlot on Holy Hill, the prologue which segues into The Witch That Could Not Be Burned, even the casual listener will be aware that they are experiencing something special, something rare. Maighread Ni Ghrasta unleashes a searing indictment of a patriarchal society that has failed to protect many of its vulnerable citizens, and indeed has contributed to their neglect and abuse in some cases. Clearly writing at times from personal experience as well as from a position of empathy, Maighread communicates the pain, the hurt and the shame of victims through her magnificent vocal prowess, singing proudly in her strong Donegal accent.
Her lyrics are realised musically and equally magnificently by her partner in the duo, Stephen John Doohan, who plays various stringed instruments, percussion and harmonium. The musical backdrop combines a punk sensibility with americana and folk leanings. Stephen’s ‘down and dirty’ grungy slide blues guitar and thumping bass drum add to the gothic brooding atmosphere of these first two tracks. ‘I am the cursed, I am the damned, There’s fire in my blood boys and there’s pitchforks in your hands’ goes the strident chorus. There’s no defiance left, though, in the thoughts of the victim of child abuse who is saying their last goodbye in Mo Chuisle (which means ‘My Heartbeat’ in Irish).
By contrast, a simple yet effective acoustic guitar accompaniment serves as the backdrop to several songs, including Margaret the Martyr - a familiar tale of the wife left behind when her husband has to emigrate for work, and The Planter & The Runaway which details the surrender of a damaged woman to an illicit love affair. The pain of alcoholism as a common legacy of abuse is explored in Princess of the Ditch, from the pen of Kilkenny songwriter Richie Healy. One gets the feeling that the stark expression of pain in songs such as The Ways that I can make You Suffer and A Pox On You are ultimately cathartic. There’s a sense of redemption finding it’s way through, painfully slowly mind you, in the beautiful Blackbird, the soulful radio-friendly Sweet Surrender and the balladic Parting Rag.
The whole project is superbly produced by Tommy McLaughlin (Villagers, Soak) in his Attica Audio Studio, where he called upon a slew of local musicians as guests on various tracks. Definitely highly recommended.
Review by Eilís Boland
Martin Harley Roll With The Punches Del Mundo
In a marked departure from his last two albums which were recorded in Nashville, Martin Harley has returned a lot closer to his roots, both physically and musically, for this latest record. He chose a new recording studio, StudiOwz in rural South West Wales. A converted church in the village of Clarbeston, the studio uses vintage analogue recording equipment, and the project was co-produced by Harry Harding (William The Conqueror), who also contributes drums, bass, guitars and backing vocals.
The sound is predominantly bluesy, with large helpings of soul and some gospel style harmonies. Both the opening (title) track and closer The Time Is Now are joyful celebrations of life, the soul leanings emphasised by the impressive Jonny Henderson on Hammond, Wurlitzer and piano, while the gospel style harmonies are from Jodie Marie and Harry Harding. Harley is, of course, one of the best and most interesting English exponent of slide blues guitar playing currently, and the track that stops me in my tracks is the instrumental Clarbeston Resonation - four breathtaking minutes of slow, reverberating slide resonator phrases, with lots of space in between, making the most of the studio’s acoustics.
All songs are written by Harley and performed by him in his gorgeous rich tenor. It’s also the first time he has recorded using electric guitar, which he uses to surprising effect in If Tears Were Pennies which starts quietly and then explodes and rocks out.
The standout song for me is the gently paced Shanghai with the amusing refrain ‘Shanghai, Shang-low, any which way you wanna go”.
Review by Eilís Boland
Tyler Lance Walker Gill Self-Titled YOTD
With Hank III taking time out from raising hell on stage and in the studio for a number of years, there has been a notable absence of badass fire spittin’ honk tonkers, representing the less conservative rough and ready side of country music. East Texan Paul Cauthen certainly comes pretty close, but his fusion of soul and blues alongside country brands him more outlaw than full on honky tonker. Enter Tyler Lance Walker Gill (‘Look, I know it’s a lot of names, talk to my mom’).
Taking up the mantle of honky tonk evangelist, his debut album is laced with tales of incarceration, drinking, religion and (anti) right-wing politics. There’s humour in the songs, lots of it in fact, but there’s also lots of ripping pedal steel, fiddles and guitars behind TLWG’s stormy country vocals.
Country music weekend jamborees were a feature of his young life, though more by design than intent. His mother and aunt did a bit of singing at these events and his aunt volunteered at the weekly Mount Washington Opry. TLWG often tagged along. Like many kids, his musical taste tended more towards straight rock and he considered country music something your parents listened to. But like many of those kids that chose rock and punk over country, the penny eventually dropped as did the musical predigests.
He started writing a bunch of country songs in later years and performing them on any stage or bar that would allow him. Developing the bones of the songs himself, he then got a couple of local big hitters on board to put some flesh on those bones. Multi-instrumentalist, bluegrass player and singer songwriter of merit Aaron Bibelhauser plays pedal steel and banjo. The equally talented Michael Cleveland contributes both fiddle and mandolin. Gill headed in to La La Land Studios in Louisville, Kentucky where he worked with Anne Gauthier (Strands Of Oak, Jim James, Murder By Death, Ray Lamontagne) to co-produce and mix the material.
The resulting ten tracks may have come together in a piecemeal manner but they offer some kick ass country on Back To Jail and Go To Hell. On an altogether more introspective note, he makes a strong political statement on So Called Christian Politicians. The song is even more relevant today than it was when it was written over four years ago, when it appeared on a compilation album titled WE HAVE A BEVIN PROBLEM. That album featured a collection of local artists reacting to former Governor Matt Bevin’s anti LGBTQ language.
However, he’s quickly propped back onto the barstool with a plea to George Jones on Honky Tonk Chapel and The Ghost, which sounds like a distant country cousin to Hank’s Your Cheatin’ Heart. The autobiographical tongue in cheek bluesy rant Wolfman closes the album. It remains to be seen whether this is a one off venture or whether it’s going to kick off TLWG’s career as a bona fide country trouble shooter.
Review by Declan Culliton
Corb Lund Agricultural Tragic New West
My first encounter with Corb Lund was back in 2006 when the Canadian and his suitably titled band The Hurtin’ Albertans played a blinding set on a Saturday afternoon at the Kilkenny Roots Festival. Standing over six-foot-tall centre stage and wearing a white Stetson, Lund spoke of his Western rodeo upbringing before launching into a blinding sixty-minute set that mixed traditional country and rock and roll, laced with dead pan humour.
Lund has stuck to that tried and tested formula across the ten studio albums he has recorded and AGRICULTURAL TRAGIC arrives five years after the release of his last full studio album THINGS THAT CAN’T BE UNDONE. With a legacy that includes being born on a ranch in the Canadian Rockies and working as a rodeo steer rider in his teens, his writing has always been steeped in the contemporary West, as if he’s lived every line and chorus that he has put to paper.
The album title is a description of what Lund considers the most authentic label for his music. True to form the twelve tracks on this album are made up of tales, both factual and imagined, of the modern-day cowboy and the associated side shows.
Having engaged Dave Cobb to produce his last studio album, Lund has taken the reins himself this time around. The players who joined him in the studio are his regular band members - drummer Brady Valgardson, guitar player Grant Siemens, and upright bass player Kurt Ciesla.
90 Seconds Of Your Time - which runs for just under three minutes - is a lively opener based on an actual hunt that Lund took part in. Never Not Had Horses tells the tale of his mother losing her last two horses to old age and realising that her riding days may be over. He is joined by fellow Canadian Jaida Dreyer for the comical country duet I Think You Oughta Try Whiskey and Ranchin’, Ridin’, Romance (Two Outa Three Ain’t Bad) is also imbued with humour alongside a steaming rhythm. Ageism gets an airing on Old Men, which is a thumbs up to the wealth of life experience and know-how that the older generation has to offer.
Lund explains where his signature sound comes from in his own words ‘“The stuff I do to this day is a reflection of the two chunks of my life: growing up Western, and then being exposed to the indie rock scene for 15 years.” That mix of rural and urban has gifted us with consistently impressive albums that have alt-country firmly stamped on them.
Lund is beyond doubt the real deal and AGRICULTURAL TRAGIC cements his reputation as a leading light in modern yet unadulterated country music. His output continues to be a reflection of the present-day West. Twang, heavy rhythms, toe tapping beats, Texan swing, infectious melody and clever lyrics, all combine on an album that I will without doubt be returning to on a regular basis in the weeks and months ahead.
Review by Declan Culliton
John Baumann Country Shade The Next Waltz
A member of Texan country collective The Panhandlers alongside Josh Abbott, William Clark Green and Cleto Cordero, COUNTRY SHADE is the third solo release by John Baumann.
The album is anything but upbeat. It offers twelve personal and reflective songs that denote a young writer appearing to be at a low point and less than optimistic about both his future and that of his homeland.
He bemoans the changing landscapes in country music, but more importantly of rural America, on the opener The Country Doesn’t Sound The Same. The song considers the effects on the lives of the working man of those changes. The passage of time is mulled over on Next Ride Around The Sun, but again from a relatively negative rather than positive perspective, and Daylights Burning hints at a personal low point for the Baumann. Fools Crusade speaks of the lengths a man will go to recapture lost love. That sentiment is reconsidered on If You Really Love Someone, which concedes that you need to let go and move on to allow your estranged lover to progress.
I Don’t Know tells of the passing of a friend at the young age of 30, the anguish and despair of Baumann as he, somewhat harrowingly, considers ‘I can only hope to get enough rope to go to see him where he is today.’
The songs are delivered in a soft Americana styling, angling towards country rock and at a leisurely pace, in keeping with the sentimentality of the subject matter. Flight Anxiety is one of the exceptions, it’s a great little rocker considering the anxious theme. He also rocks out on Second Wind, it’s a reminder to himself to pick himself up at life’s low points and dust himself down and that better times will follow. The album concludes on an identical topic as it opened with Grandfather’s Grandson as the writer once more laments past eras and lifestyles.
COUNTRY SHADE is an album that appears to find Baumann at a crossroads, unsure if he has the confidence to stride forward in his career and constantly looking over his shoulder for the comfort of past times and generations, possibly with rose tinted glasses. He certainly possesses the talented to write impressively. One of his songs Gulf Moon was recorded by Kenny Chesney and this album also includes touching lyrics across many of the tracks. It also may offer material that may be ripe picking to be covered by others. It’s not an easy Saturday night listen but worth investigation.
Review by Declan Culliton
Paul Messinger The Reckoning Self Release
Paul Messinger is a poet, songwriter, vocalist, and instrumentalist, originally from New York. Now based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, this is his fourth solo project and his musical vision is one of sharing a message of hope and peace. The seven songs here run to just shy of 33 minutes and in terms of both arrangement and production quality, they all find their mark.
The project was engineered and produced by Jason Merritt who also plays keyboards, guitars and sings. Messinger provides all lead vocals and plays harmonica in a style that really punches the music along an up-tempo path. The songs were all recorded live in the studio, with just a few additions after the event to embellish the groove that was captured.
There are many other musicians who play on these tracks, including Robert Sledge (bass), Morgan Davis (drums), Keenan Jenkins (guitars), Peter Lucey (keyboards, squeezebox), Raney Hayes (backing vocals), Jon Shain (resonator guitar), Todd Parrot (additional harmonicas), Robert Welsh (dobro), Jeremy Haire (slide guitar, bowed guitar) and Tim Smith (tenor/alto sax, flute, vocals).
The title track has a soulful sound with slide guitar, harmonica and dobro all playing off the melody and the message of a coming punishment for our wayward deeds. Time 2 Take the Guns is a song that calls for weapon disarmament in American society in order to nullify the power of the ignorant and the increasing numbers of misguided radicals. Jesus Will Understand is a song that tackles war atrocities all done in the name of Uncle Sam and the scars left on all sides. Hungry For Love has a Country swing and a lyric about a frustrated wife who writes to an Agony Aunt.
The EPIC Saga of Jason Ricci’s Socks tells the tale of the outspoken harmonica player and singer, who has been openly "queer" gay/bisexual most his career and has been discouraged from attending a number of venues and events.
The final song, War Evermore, is the longest track at over nine minutes and is inspired from a Bob Marley song (War), which was itself adapted from a speech given by The Emperor Haile Selassie in 1963. It has a wonderful reggae tinged rhythm as it details the gratuitous violence and hate crimes that go unpunished under the banner of war.
Credit to all concerned, this is a very enjoyable set of songs and there is much to recommend in the overall sound.
Review by Paul McGee
Steve Mednick Enough! Self Release
This album was released last year and represents the 15th release in a career that started back in 2006. Mednick works closely with singer-songwriter and producer Eddie Seville at Cottage Sounds Studios in Middlebury, Connecticut and the eleven tracks were all written by him and produced/arranged by Seville. In addition to the guitar and vocals of Mednick, we are given a range of sounds from the talented Seville who adds drums, percussion, harmonium, pedal steel, guitar and vocals.
Karl Allweier contributes bass, guitar and vocals and there are a number of guest musicians on various tracks that help to round out the sound. The overall feel of the music is that of contemporary Folk with a twist. There are protest songs about gun control in America and the risks involved in simply trying to grow up safely and obtain an education. There are songs that show the frustrations of Mednick as he looks for real change and not just platitudes from uncaring politicians.
The rock drive of The Whole World Is Watching sums up the anger perfectly with great guitar parts and a hard rhythm. Similarly, A Dark Night Is Upon Us, which delivers a message of having left it too late to change the zeitgeist. Other tracks like What Are You Going to Do? Soon It Will Be Too Late, Weapons of War and Something In the Water tell their own story from the titles and final song, Raging Across The Land, sends portents of doom, given the apathy and sickness that grip his country. Given the message was communicated last year, the opportunity to review this in the current climate of 2020 makes it more potent than ever imagined.
Review by Paul McGe
Lawson Vallery Band Texiana Rambler
A singer who grew up in Texas and who has lived a colourful life in arriving at this release - his debut album. The sound is very much a mix of Americana and Blues with the nine songs delivering a fine workout by all concerned; Lawson Vallery (vocals), Tone Stojka (guitar, pedal-steel), Erik Nielsen (harmonica), Thor-Erik Molstad Johansen (bass, vocals), Tracee Meyn (vocals) and Øyvind Hansen (drums).
As you can guess from the names of the band members, Vallery is no longer based in the USA. In fact, Norway has been home since he moved there to take up a job as a project co-ordinator for the construction of two offshore platforms in the oil industry. In earlier years he also went to sea as a sailor and worked as a cook on an oil tanker. He also served in the military and worked as a welder in Louisiana. Plenty of life experience to put into these songs then, given his attitude to taking risks and seeing where they lead you. His vocal is not a million miles away from Willie Nelson and the band are certainly very accomplished in turning out stellar performances.
All songs are written by Vallery, with one co-write and the gospel blues of No Short Cuts To Glory is a perfect example of the players all coming together in perfect unison. Rocky and Wide has a tex-mex swing to the arrangement and the bar room blues of H.A.R.V.E.Y. is a real treat, with harmonica and female vocals adding great dynamic to the work out. Irma is an instrumental and has a great country sound with jangling guitar, pedal steel and dobro trading licks and harmonica jumping around a chugging melody that conjures images of the wide-open spaces and riding the railway to the horizon.
The final track, Reflections, is an acoustic-based look back down the road and takes all the steam out of the earlier tracks as the journey ends in a very satisfactory way. A very enjoyable 37 minutes of your time.
Review by Paul McGee