Andi Rae Healy Last Time I Checked This Was A Free World And I Wasn’t Anybody’s Girl Self Release
The eye catching album design/packaging - a pastiche of 50s Western style in bright yellow with Healy posing cheekily as a cowgirl - gives a hint as to what lies within. A stalwart of the NYC live scene, Healy’s fourth album is a joyful celebration of girl power, with musical influences ranging from traditional country to 60s pop and Disney musicals. Even her heart break songs are written and delivered with a sense of positivity - she’s got a quality to her voice that reminds one of fellow New Yorker Cyndy Lauper (who incidentally contributed vocals to her first album).
The title song is pure honky tonk fun, with prominent pedal steel from Gerald Menke. Come Get Me, (this is not a) Sad Song and You Think are equally rooted in classic country but all performed endearingly tongue-in-cheek. Elsewhere, Healy employs brass and strings liberally, which contribute an air of theatricality and invoke mid-20th century musicals. There’s only one departure from the lightness - What Were You Thinking? addresses those who recently voted for a certain US President. It’s the only hint on the record of Healy’s interest in environmental and social issues. Indeed, currently proceeds from her album sales are going to a US charity - another good reason to check out her website. The excellent closing song Bored could have been written for the pandemic lockdown - how lucky was that?
The album was ably produced in his studio Postscript Sounds by fellow Brooklynite Jeff Litman, who also played guitars/mandolin/keys. Jeff is also a member of Healy’s live band, The Back River Bullies, who all played on the recording. A fun album definitely worth checking out.
Review by Eilís Boland
Bai Kamara Jr & The Voodoo Sniffers Salone Moosicus/MIG
Desert blues combined with passionate, clever story telling, soul and passion, and all delivered in a rich warm baritone (that voice!) make for an introduction to Belgian based artist Bai Kamara Jr. A name new to us, but this is the 6th album from the Sierra Leone born artist, whose mother was that country’s Belgian ambassador, and who himself grew up and was educated in England. Previous albums dealt in blues, rock, soul and jazz, but he has truly found his calling with his first conscious exploration of his North African roots, with a guitar sound reminiscent of that first brought to our European ears by Ali Farka Toure and Tinariwen.
Although credited to his road band, The Voodoo Sniffers, Kamara Jr wrote, produced and performed all 15 excellent tracks here, and the production is faultless.
He kicks off at a metaphorical crossroads in his life with Can’t Wait Here Too Long, and goes on to explore themes including love, relationship breakdown and even the much dreaded school run in Morning School Run Blues. Particularly memorable is the tongue-in-cheek Lady Boss, where the protagonist appears to complain about being at his female boss’s beck and call, ending with the memorable line “She’s into the ‘Me Too Movement’ ... and me too”. Black Widow Spider is a chilling exploration of a metaphorical threat to his family, realised by the clever use of percussion to realistically evoke the scuttling of a giant spider - not for the faint hearted! Stand out track has to be Homecoming, which movingly recalls his first trip back to Sierra Leone (known as Salone in the Krio language) in 15 years. (Check out the superb video of that trip that accompanies this song). An added bonus is the slick digipak, with excellent photography and a lyrics booklet.
Review by Eilís Boland
Jim Bachmann Arizona Burrito Ripsnort
This is a new 8 track mini-album from the Arizona-based musician. He has honky-tonk in his DNA, deriving from his Grandfather, who played in a family band. Gigging in Phoenix he has played with the likes of Billy Joe Shaver, Whitey Morgan, Reckless Kelly, Shooter Jennings and Dallas Moore. This is only a partial list, giving you some idea of his affiliations and affections and how his music fits with those artists own repertoire and attitudes.
Bachmman draws on some of those friendships when he is joined here by Dallas Moore for a duet and by guitarist Tony Martinez (from Whitey Morgan’s band the 78s) on Waiting On A Train. Ray Herndon (who is a regular with Lyle Lovett’s Big Band) is also a guest guitarist on several of the tracks. All of which bring a sense of diversity to Bachmann’s album, with brass and soulful backing vocals gracing Down On My Knees. The swelling organ notes are a vital part of the overall sound as much as the solid guitar riffs, all adding to the overall muscular musical methodology of this Americana stew. His band the Day Drinkers deserve their credit too for their part in the making of the album. As does Meridith Moore, who is the harmony vocalist on Last Of The Dying Breed, a song he previously recorded back in 2008 for a self-titled album.
The songs travel a well driven roadway that cover his particular blend of country, blues, rock and some regional influences. On top of this music is the strong and soulful mellowness of Bachmann’s voice. It’s one that falls on the right side of rough-edged, as witnessed by his and Moore’s version of Shaver’s Live Forever. These songs are not without a sense of humour at the absurdity of love, life and liquid ambition, as expressed by a man who is now On The Upside Of Down. There’s also the optimistic thinking of Let’s Get The Band Back Together but, as often happens, trying to find the mutual timing for this to happen is not a particularly easy task.
There is a strong likability the music played by Bachman and his Day Drinkers and an extra couple of songs wouldn’t have gone amiss. How far outside of Arizona and that area this music can travel and have an effect is debatable. But I’m sure these guys have a loyal following locally and can share a stage with many of their contemporaries as equals. While this Arizona Burrito is likely best savoured on home soil, it could become something of a favoured taste elsewhere too.
Review by Stephen Rapid
The Mavericks En Español Mono Mundo
An album sung entirely in Spanish seems a perfect vehicle for Raul Malo and his fellow key Mavericks Paul Deacon, Jerry Dale McFadden and Eddie Perez, accompanied by members of their live band (dubbed the Fabulous Five). Malo’s Cuban/American heritage has also had an influence on his music and has regularly featured as a part of their live set. That this is a perfect combination is underlined by the fact that if you don’t understand Spanish, the mood and drama of the songs will still come across strongly. There is a unit of consummate musicianship which is evident throughout and the brass arrangements enhances that music at every turn.
There is also Malo’s majestic voice that at times, has seemed a little close to a certain Vegas-ness perhaps exemplified by their cover of the Englebert Humperdink hit A Man Without Love. But here it is rendered in Spanish as Cuando Me Enamoro and is perfectly suited to the overall musical language of these songs and arrangements. The blend here is both widescreen cinematic and for the dancefloor, with the rhythms of salsa and bossa nova. What is also apparent is the naturalness of the language for Malo, who can bring drama, emotion and depth as easily as he has done in the past with his English language songs.
Also, not to be underestimated are the contributions of the rest of the band, who never seem to be forcing their playing but rather have equally immersed themselves in the project. There are additional guests here also, such as accordion legend Flaco Jiménez and arranger Alkberto Salas. The production by Malo and Niko Bolas is exactly as it should be to bring such a project to creative fruition.
It will be interesting to see how the album fares in this Covid-cloaked times and how their loyal fan base will take to a full Spanish language album, opposed to their previous recordings. This is obviously an album that Malo has wanted to make in a long time and this seems the ideal time to put it out, although this album is, in truth, unlikely to get the exposure on mainstream country radio stations. This is a perfect example of Cuban Americana, if there is such a thing, or perhaps simply an album en español that stands up for what its title offers. It’s not for everyone or even all Mavericks fans but it certainly is something the band needed to do to connect with Malo’s roots. In that sense it is perfect.
Review by Stephen Rapid
Zephaniah OHora Listening To The Music Last Roundup
While Music City Nashville continues to churn out routine and repetitive pop music to dominate country music radio and Billboard Country Music Charts, much further afield a number of artists are keeping the flag flying for old school country. New York might not be the most obvious trading post for classic country, but Brooklyn based Zephaniah OHora put a marker firmly down in 2017 with his debut recording, THIS HIGHWAY. Like many country artists, OHora’s path to an artistic career began by playing guitar at his church during Sunday congregations. He was raised in New Hampshire in a devoutly religious family. His devotion to classic country was reignited some years later while working and residing in New York, and he spent many afternoons trawling the city’s record stores to add to his collection of old country albums.
OHora’s own musical career was formally launched soon after, while still living in New York. In his early twenties at this stage, he was offered a residency at a small bar in Williamsburg, to perform standard country classics and also to provide a DJ set. A further opportunity arose to act as a booker for a new music bar in New York named Skinny Dennis, which featured live acts nightly and became the centre for the re-emerging country music scene in that city.
His first studio recording THIS HIGHWAY, was an unequivocal statement that prime country music can emerge from an urban environment, as well as it’s more traditional rural origins. Its lineage pointed more in the direction of Bakersfield than Nashville, with the quality of OHora’s vocals and song writing emphasised by a slick co-production at the hands of Luca Benedetti (Martha Redbone, The National Reserve) and Jim Campilongo (Norah Jones, Teddy Thompson). This time around the production duties for his follow up album LISTENING TO THE MUSIC were undertaken by revered songwriter and guitarist Neal Casal (Ryan Adams, Chris Robinson), who tragically passed away only months after the album had been completed. The bulk of the album was recorded live at The Bunker Studio in Brooklyn in four days, with the finishing touches applied by OHora and Casal over a seven-day period. A select host of players and backing vocalists were engaged, including renowned New York guitarist John Shannon who, together with Casal, adds some wonderfully understated playing. John Graboff, who was a member of Ryan Adams’ backing band The Cardinals alongside Casal, plays pedal steel and drums are played by freelancer Arthur Vint, who regularly performs on stage with OHora.
Black and Blue and All American Singer were both released in advance of the album’s launch and were indicators that he wasn’t straying too far from the blueprint that worked so well on his debut offering. Heaven’s On The Way is a countryfied distant relative to Tom Paxton’s The Last Thing On My Mind and opens the album in fine style. It’s Not So Easy Today is classic Countrypolitan adorned by silky strings behind a crystal-clear vocal delivery, and Riding That Train and Time Won’t Take It’s Time With Me sound as if they were borrowed from a Merle Haggard Greatest Hits compilation.
THIS HIGHWAY may have set the bar at the highest level but OHora has equalled, if not surpassed, the standards he set with that debut effort. It’s packed with memorable songs that recall Merle Haggard and Glen Campbell at their best, and is enriched by gilt edged vocals, playing and production.
Flawless is a description I rarely use when describing an album. In the case of LISTENING TO THE MUSIC, that description is more than justified.
Review by Declan Culliton
Steve Baskin Mind Your Step Self-Release
While aimed at the Americana market, MIND YOUR STEP, the fourth album release by Steve Baskin, is more like a compilation of the musical styles that make up that all-embracing classification. The album finds room for tracks that are soul, country, rock & roll, folk, R&B and classic rock, presenting a road map to practically all the genres that Americana encompasses.
Three tracks in and you’ll already have encountered dissimilar styles on the rocky Afraid Today, countryfied Big Wedding Small Divorce and the rich soulful sound of the title track, complete with horns and organ. That passionate full on sound also features on Cutting Room Floor, while the delightfully funky Glass of Wine represents a more laid back and mainstream interpretation of soul. Equally impressive are the radio friendly Dances by Moonlight and the cover version of Bob Welch’s Sentimental Lady.
Baskin plays acoustic and electric guitar, bass and mandolin, as well as contributing lead and harmony vocals. He co-produced the album with Rich Herring of Little River Band. Both the production and playing is slick and compliment the calibre of the song writing.
MIND YOUR STEP harks back to early 70’s, an era when numerous American bands introduced soul and folk into their mix, often earning radio play and commercial success by doing so. By following a similar course, you get the impression that the material on the album was what Baskin was born to make, as it is oozing with warmth from start to finish. It’s well worth investing your time for a listen, for a throwback to those heady days.
Review by Declan Culliton
H.C.McEntire Eno Axis Merge
The debut solo album from Durham, North Carolina resident H.C. McEntire, entitled LIONHEART and released in 2018, was a no-holds-barred reflection on her beloved home state and the contradictions of growing up as a gay woman in a small Bible Belt farming community in North Carolina. A classic lyricist, she follows a similar theme on ENO AXIS with songs that suggest some more intense personal and intimate probing.
Unlike LIONHEART, which was written piecemeal while she toured, this time around she returned to her farmhouse in the woods in Durham to compose the ten songs contained on the album.
In another life McEntire is a backing singer with Angel Olsen’s touring band and also fronts the criminally underrated band Mount Mariah, who have recorded three excellent albums. However, her solo career has given her exclusive artistic freedom to write and compose without compromise or interference. Her writing is poetic, equally impressive with or without the instrumentation that accompanies her words.
ENO AXIS is packed with imagery-invoking songs from start to finish. One Eye Open graphically revisits her childhood Sunday School days. It’s a short track, running barely over two minutes, but in those minutes her layered vocals create vivid scenes of burning crosses, bowed heads and plates overflowing with notes and coins being passed around. Those memories also resurface on the instrumental Sunday Morning, which is spellbinding, powerful and bordering on frightening.
The album’s title derives from the river Eno which flows close to her property and River’s Jaw salutes its allure and beauty, though the scars of Christian fundamentalism are also close to the surface (‘Walk at dusk to the river’s jaw, beg for rest from the hand of God’). She maintains the religious thread with a cover of Led Zeppelin’s Houses Of The Holy, which closes the album. She has essentially only borrowed the lyrics of the song, as her delicate delivery is practically unrecognisable when compared to Robert Plant’s screeching vocals on the original version.
Time Is On Fire, the first single from the album, is a brooding affair, quite radio friendly and showcases her capability to construct easy on the ear songs, alongside her more contemplative offerings. However, the album’s finest minutes unfold on Final Bow. Detailing a fall from grace and decay, the song finds McEntire at the top of her game lyrically and musically (‘Rosewater, slinging bottles of gin, she’s already in the alley now, smoking cigarettes, it’s as real, real, real as it gets ‘). It’s also all the better for some crunching guitar breaks.
The foundations of ENO AXIS can be traced back to McEntire’s upbringing, surrounded by country and gospel roots music. The meandering musical paths she has since navigated have rewarded her with the talent to merge those elements and create a unique sound that lands somewhere between Americana and Indie. The end result is a most rewarding listen from an artist maturing into one of the most eloquent songwriters of her generation.
Review by Declan Culliton
Western Terrestrials Back In The Saddle Of A Fever Dream Self-Release
With a less than conventional take on country music, Vermont five-piece band Western Terrestrials combine their love of old timey with a razor-sharp edge that is closer to Hank III and Sarah Shook & The Disarmers than their musical heroes of yesteryear. The band members are Nick Charyk on vocals and guitar, bassist Jason Pappas, drummer Jared Croteau, keyboardist Alex Kelley, and Asa Brosius on pedal steel.
Their 2019 release CLEARLAKE CONSPIRACY took aim at the bland formulaic product being churned out from Nashville at present under the banner of ‘country music’. Tracks such as WWWJD (What Would Waylon Jennings Do) and Automated Trucker Blues pulled no punches, on an album that also paid homage - and name checked - many of Charyk’s Honky Tonk champions.
Somewhat ironically, the band travelled over one thousand miles south from Vermont to Nashville to record BACK IN THE SADDLE OF A FEVER DREAM. The journey was at the invitation of Dean Miller, the son of the legendary Roger Miller, who offered his services to record a few songs at Omnisound Studio on Music Row, having been impressed by the band's previous recording. Omnisound Studios has hosted Bobby Bare, Marty Stuart, Alan Jackson, Porter Wagoner, Ray Price and many more over the years. The icing on the cake for Western Terrestrials was an offer from Georgette Jones, daughter of George Jones, to sing a duet with Charyk on the album and an invitation from Ketch Secor (Old Crow Medicine Show) to co-write a track. The remaining songs were recorded at Cinderella Studios, the oldest surviving independent studio in Nashville, under the supervision of Wayne Moss, the studio's founder.
The album title is a pointer to what you can expect. It delivers its fair share of twang, it’s sometimes conventional, often maverick and never lacklustre. The toe tapping duet with Jones Who’s Gonna Fill These Boots? is playful and impressive. Ethan Alien, the co-write with Secor, is a lively tongue in cheek episode that name checks Neko Case, Bernie Sanders, Ben and Jerry, and Randy Quaid in its listing of ‘aliens’. The more orthodox Space Cowboy’s Got The Blues is a delight, bringing to mind The Sadies at the top of their game.
Review by Declan Culliton
West On Colfax Barfly Flew By Greenhorse
Hailing from Lancashire in the U.K., West On Colfax are a five-piece band whose debut full album BARFLY FLEW BY is the first release on the Preston based Greenhouse Records label. The band’s name was derived from the title of The Delines' 2014 debut album COLFAX and is a pointer towards the musical direction in which they travel. They describe their sound as alt-country and numerous support slots to visiting American bands playing in Lancashire have given them the opportunity to develop their own sound and deliver it to live audiences.
Their combination of country, roots and blues is a throwback to the heady days of the mid 1970’s and pub rock in the U.K., when bands similar to them played residencies and delivered a mixture of covers and original material. The songwriting is mainly by bassist Scott Carey with Alan Hay developing those lyrics into the tracks that feature on the album, together with playing guitars. Also featuring on guitar is Peter Barnes, who is credited as the writer of Back Out On The Road. Drummer Mike Lambert and multi-instrumentalist Ian Aylward-Barton are the remaining band members.
The songs are strong on melody with opener Choke Hold, Tyre Marks and the title track being the standout songs, all three are rich and guitar driven. They slip back into cruise control with the relaxed ballads Cowgirl Of The County and album closer Light Again, both of which drift towards country.
Prior to the Covid-19 related shutdowns, they were also instrumental in staging Americana music shows in Preston, together with their band duties. This was a noteworthy commitment from a collection of music lovers and BARFLY FLEW BY is a wholly heartfelt offering that they can be justifiably proud of.
Review by Declan Culliton