Gillian Welch Boots No.2: The Lost Songs, Vol. 1 Acony
The studio output of Gillian Welch is anything but prolific. Six albums recorded over a twenty-four-year period has consistently left lovers of her music longing for more. Whether it’s a case of writer’s block or her reputation as a perfectionist that has limited her output is uncertain. What is beyond dispute is that each of her album releases is greeted with high expectation.
Her last release BOOTS No.1: THE OFFICIAL REVIVAL BOOTLEG landed towards the end of 2016. Beautifully packaged, it marked the 20th anniversary of her debut album REVIVAL. Together with outtakes and demos from the material that featured on that album, it also offered eight new songs from that purple period in her musical career and that of her partner Dave Rawlings.
Welch and Rawlings are reported to be in the possession of a huge volume of unreleased demos, many of them stored at Woodland Studios in East Nashville, which suffered considerable tornado damage in March of this year. Fortunately, their demos survived and this may or may not have been the motivator to release to the public no fewer than forty-eight tracks of material written between the making of TIME THE REVELATOR (2001) and SOUL JOURNEY (2003). This new album features sixteen of these tracks, the remaining thirty-two will be the subject of two future volumes. Ironically, the forty-two tracks combined with the new material that appeared on BOOTS No.1, equals her career recording output to date. Incredibly, the songs were all recorded over a single weekend in 2002.
The quality on offer here is testament to both Welch and Rawlings’ writing and performing talents and begs the poser as to why material of this standard has not previously seen the light of day. It’s difficult to select any tracks unworthy of inclusion on any of Welch’s previous, such is the excellence on offer here.
As always, Welch’s vocals are crystal clear and well defined. The material is stripped back to the bone and all the better for that. The harmonies with Rawlings are subtle and flawless, and their playing is exquisite. We hear of a desperate letter from an estranged lover (Johnny Dear), a young girl dancing for nickels (Little Luli), an unfaithful partner (Roll On), the barefooted beauty (First Place Ribbon) and a doomed heroine (Chinatown). The songs, in keeping with the stripped back music that accompanies them, chronicle events of yesteryear. The lyrics, typically, are thought provoking and open to interpretation, like mini stories yet to be completed.
There’s little to celebrate about that tornado that hit East Nashville in early March, leaving its devastating mark on many buildings at Five Points. The only positive is the emergence of this collection of stunning songs that equal anything the hugely talented duo had delivered previously. For lovers of Gillian Welch - and indeed Dave Rawlings - this is gold dust.
Review by Declan Culliton
Ashley Ray Pauline Soundly
“This record came to life by putting memories to music” explains Nashville resident Ashley Ray, describing her third album, which is a personal reflection of growing up in a working class family in Lawrence, Kansas. The memories and reflections are both joyous and painful and always brutally honest.
Ray headed for Nashville after finishing school and has gained a well-earned reputation as a gifted songwriter, writing for both Sony ATV and BMG Nashville. She has penned material for Lori Mc Kenna, Little Big Town and Wade Brown. However, rather than fill an album with predictable and ‘written by numbers’ material, Ray has bravely constructed this album’s material around her family, the title being the name of her maternal grandmother, who died before Ray was born.
Ray's now deceased father recognised her talent as a singer from an early age and encouraged her to get on stage and perform. So, with his encouragement, singing in dive bars in her home state was her introduction to performing. Her voice is wonderfully edgy and natural, a mix of twang and grit, that suits the content of the songs on this album perfectly. ‘I don’t have this big, beautiful voice made for singing the National Anthem’ she freely admits. “I tell stories. It’s a storyteller’s voice.”
The album was produced by performer and noted songwriter Sean McConnell. The opening and title track features a recording of a phone call between Ray and her mother, recorded by McConnell. That the call was being recorded was unknown to Ray’s mother, who recounts how her daughter looks so much like her grandmother and that her middle name (Pauline) was given to her in remembrance of her grandmother.
The following track Lawrence Kansas sets the scene for the chapters that unfold on the album, as Ray reminisces about her hometown and yearns to get back there and let the tales of her upbringing unfold. It’s a striking ballad, with acoustic guitar and pedal steel behind her drifting vocal.
Although the album’s title and much of the material recalls her grandmother, the stories that emerge are also created from Ray’s own memories of her life in working class rural Middle America. Just A House recalls the family home, now only occupied by her mother after her father’s passing and her solemn wish for her mother to move on (“These four walls are running out of days, it can’t be what it was, even if you stay”). Rock ‘n’ Roll could be the precursor to Just A House. Her mother is depicted playing solitaire alone and chain smoking at the kitchen table, as her daughter ekes out a living six hundred miles away in Nashville (“I’m gonna sell my soul to Rock ’n’ Roll.“)
The songs that relate to her grandmother were gleaned from stories passed down from her mother and family members. A strong willed and hardworking lady, she and other likeminded mothers are remembered in the booming Dirty Work (“It's dirty work, feeding all these babies in a mini-skirt”). Off The Wagon Again also impresses - it’s a heartfelt country song, probably factual given the album's history, but without any reference as to which Pauline the song represents.
The YouTube videos that accompany a number of tracks on the album are also well worth checking. St. Patricks Day, in both the song and video, recollects a happy and simple childhood. The archived filmed footage of Ray as a young girl on the YouTube video is innocent, natural and moving. Waiting finds Ray reflecting on the tortuous career journey she has endured as a musician and the rejection that goes with the territory. It’s a powerful song (‘Wiping tables when I should be singing songs, I cut my teeth on these barstools that I’m serving now’).
Ray has strayed from the conventional and formulaic writing encouraged by Music Row for a darker and indeed gutsier sound with this album. Vulnerability, sadness and optimism are all represented on the songs. Hopefully, PAULINE will elevate Ray from a budding songwriter to an acclaimed performer in her own right, she has certainly earned that status. Even if it does not, there’s so much she can feel proud about on an album that is sounding better on every listen.
Review by Declan Culliton
Kathleen Edwards Total Freedom Dualtone
It’s been eight years since the release of VOYAGER, the last album from Canadian Kathleen Edwards. The self-imposed temporary retirement found Edwards behind the counter of her new home, a coffee shop in Stittsville, Ottawa, ironically named Quitters. Much to the delight of her followers, she made a number of live appearances over the past two years and has now fully relaunched her career with the much-anticipated release of TOTAL FEEEDOM.
Edwards earned widespread critical acclaim as a leading light in the female in the alt-country genre with her early albums FAILER (2003) and BACK TO ME (2005). Commercial success followed with ASKING FOR FLOWERS (2008) and VOYAGER (2012), both of which earned radio play and charted highly in Canada and the US. With all of her previous albums having been nominated for Album Of The Year at The Juno Awards. Thos new album has arrived following considerable media hype and high expectations. Would it equal the lofty standards of her previous work? The answer is a resounding ‘Yes!’.
Edwards’ return to the recording studio came from an unexpected source. A surprise invitation from Maren Morris to a songwriting session in Nashville led to a co-write by them, Good Woman, which was included on Morris’s 2019 album GIRL. Working with them on that song was Nashville Grammy Award winning producer and musician, Ian Fitchuk. That introduction led to Fitchuk joining Edwards and her long-standing collaborator Jim Bryson on the production of TOTAL FREEDOM.
The album, as the title implies, finds her free from the emotional shackles of recent years and much of the material is a reflection of that journey. It’s littered with details fuelled by a bad relationship she experienced, and hastily removed herself from.
Despite suggestions to the contrary, Edwards has stated that her last recording VOYAGER, was not inspired by the break-up of her marriage to Colin Cripps, most of the material having been written prior to their parting. Glenfern, the opening track on the album is a delightful nostalgic recollection of that marriage. It’s awash with charming memories of their life journey. The release of her first album and the first house they lived in are fondly remembered. (‘We toured the world and we played on TV, we met some of our heroes, it almost killed me’).
Fast forward to more recent times for the driver behind the cutting Hard On Everyone. Described by Edwards as her ‘waking the fuck up and exiting’ song, it candidly visits that disintegrating relationship in vintage Edwards style. It also compares positively with anything she’s previously written and recalls the equally stunning What Are You Waiting For? from BACK TO ME, in both sentiment and delivery. (“Everything in this house breaks, you’re gonna fix it, or so you say”). Its driving rhythm and layered vocals are simply wonderful and, approaching the six-minute mark, it’s the longest track on the album.
Similar sentiments surface on Options Open, the first single from the album. Originally written as a love song while in the throes of a relationship, its lyrics also unintendedly predict the future. Those feelings of anger and self-regret recur on Fool’s Ride (“you know how to spend my money, you know how to spin a story”) and Feelings Fade (“Here’s a moving target, take your shot”). A childhood friendship, recently rekindled, is recalled on the soothing ballad Simple Math and the emotional Ashes to Ashes remembers a customer of hers at Quitters, who died suddenly while shovelling show.
With considerable quantities of hardship and regret visited on TOTAL FREEDOM, the album could have been expected to be sorrowful and sombre. Instead it’s quite the opposite. It waves the pain of the past a firm goodbye and its conclusion is one of self-congratulation and defiance, as Edwards moves on to the next stage of her life, with head held high.
“I got birds on the feeder. I got dogs and they’re sleeping. I got total freedom’’ she announces on Birds On The Feeder. It’s a declaration of re-birth and the opening of a new chapter in the life of a purposeful and enormously talented artist who, all being well, is back for good.
Review by Declan Culliton
Mary Chapin Carpenter The Dirt and The Stars Lambent Light
Together with fifteen Grammy nominations and five awards, Mary Chapin Carpenter has sold over fifteen million albums across a career that started in 1987 with the release of her debut album HOMETOWN.
She travelled to the U.K. to record THE DIRT AND THE STARS at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios in Bath, engaging the legendary Ethan Johns as producer. The songs that accompanied her on her journey for the recording consider failing relationships, mental illness, isolation and rejection. However, these topics, in true Chapin Carpenter style, are tackled with empathy, understanding and concern on an album that is anything but downbeat.
The album kicks off in fine style with Farther Along and Further In, with its nod in the direction of English folk, possibly motivated by the striking rural surroundings of the recording studios. Chapin Carpenter is renowned for her thoughtful and evocative writing, and sixteen albums into her career has not dampened her zeal. She writes from the heart here, examining both personal and universal issues. Resigning herself to feelings of melancholy on It’s OK to Be Sad she declares ‘These feelings are like weather, they come and they go.’
She raises the tempo on the six-minute bluesy semi-spoken tirade that is American Stooge. Aiming for the jugular, she scores a direct hit, with a biting dig at the so-called American way and purported to be directed at the insincerity of a particular politician (‘to hell with the truth, I’m sucking up to this dude’). It’s also a reminder that she has never lost her social conscious or her fearless opinions. Equally powerful is the rocking Secret Keepers, where she advises opening up rather than harbouring fears and anxiety, and being conscious of the mental baggage others may be harbouring.
The quite gorgeous piano led Asking For A Friend speaks of the difficulty in finding the correct and least hurtful words to finish a relationship that sadly is fading. A similar thread follows on the title track which brings the album to a close. Over its seven minutes, she reminisces about a relationship of yesteryear, its disintegration and the healing that ensues. It ends with a lengthy and wonderful guitar arrangement that seems like the perfect finale to what is another splendid album that offers many moments of splendour, from an immensely talented artist.
Review by Declan Culliton
Twisted Pine Right Now Signature Sounds
When a musical genius like Bela Fleck, Chris Thile or Sierra Hull diverts away creatively from their original genre, they often leave at least half of their audience behind, scratching their heads. However, this leaves the door open for others to do the same - expanding and enriching the music ‘which raised them’ and hopefully creating original sounds and attracting new audiences, particularly from a younger generation.
Twisted Pine are a young band from Boston who are pushing the boundaries of bluegrass out to its limits - to the extent that it’s not easy to discern that they started off in that genre at all. They describe their sound as ‘Americana funk’ and there’s certainly a huge jazz improvisation influence evident. Led by hugely talented fiddle player, vocalist and principal songwriter Kathleen Parks, the four piece have produced a confident string based poppy upbeat sound that is unlike any other current band sound that springs to mind.
Bassist Chris Sartori, who also plays unusual percussion instruments, has a jazzy style while Dan Bui plays a choppy percussive mandolin. One of the principal reasons for the unique sound is due to the prominent presence of flute, played by newest member Anh Phung, who also sings beautifully. Of the ten tracks here, four are instrumentals, allowing the band to indulge themselves in what they appear to enjoy the most. Parks positively scats along to her own fiddle in the tongue-in-cheek mischievous Papaya. There’s a cover of an early Father John Misty song (Well, You Can Do It Without Me).
Stand out song for this reviewer is Parks’s Don’t Come Over Tonight, in which the protagonist finally asserts herself and removes herself from an unhealthy controlling relationship. The edgy sinister atmosphere is invoked powerfully and cleverly by Dan Bui’s mandolin and Ahn Phung’s dissonant flute contributions.
Twisted Pine will probably be akin to Marmite to our readers ... have a listen and make your own mind up!
Review by Eilís Boland
John C Stannard Folk Roots Revisited CastIron
This UK-based artist has been involved in music since his days as a member of folk group Tudor Lodge, which was formed back in 1968. The band experienced some success, including a highly-collectable debut record, before disbanding in 1972. The group reformed in 1980 and played together on the Folk circuit until 1988, when further changes saw a duo remain, with Stannard and Lynne Whiteland going on to release a further five albums and who continue to perform today.
However, Stannard had seen a different direction along his previous path and had begun writing blues-based songs back in 2011. This new interest culminated in the release of his debut solo album in 2013, as the John Cee Stannard Blues Orchestra (THE DOOB DOO ALBUM). He has since gone on to release a further four albums, whether playing as a trio in Blues Horizon, or inviting a bigger band sound into the studio.
This new release has Stannard returning to his roots as a folk singer and channelling the old spirit that the 1960’s inspired. There are a few songs from that era included in Lovely Day and If Only She Were Here with a further five tracks inspired by a song-writing workshop that Stannard attended in 2019. There are 12 musicians who were invited to contribute and play on this new release, including his two Blues Horizon mates, Mike Baker and Howard Birchmore, with the rhythm section of Dean Robinson (drums) and Les Calvert (bass) appearing on the majority of tracks. There is the sweet sound of flutes on a few songs, with accordion, harmonica, Celtic harp, mandolin and violin, all making welcome appearances also.
The music is very much steeped in acoustic Folk territory with the excellent production of Stannard and Matt Bew giving room and a relaxed environment for the arrangements to breathe. The twelve tracks include The Ferryman, a song about our crossing into the afterlife; Shades Of Grey, the longest song included on this 40 minute project and one that questions our inclination to want black and white solutions to life’s challenges. The message of I See A Boy is to look beyond old age and embrace the child within each other and the memories we create. Stannard is a fine lyricist and the words of these songs are well considered and delivered with an easy perspective.
No doubt, he will return to his preferred medium of the blues, but Stannard has opened up a musical box of memories that hopefully will see him revisit again in the future. A talent worth exploring.
Review by Paul McGee
Dave Greaves Still>Life (The Legacy Collection) Inbred
This singer-songwriter has been playing music since the 1970’s and has released a number of albums since those heady days of the Folk movement in England; times to be remembered in both memory and song.
Greaves now lives in Scarborough with his family and those days of the bright lights and busy schedules are behind him in the past, resting where they belong. Life goes on and change is an inevitable part of it all. Looking back can be a dangerous pastime and Greaves once had deals with Island Music, EMI Music, Demon Records, Black Bear Records and Pye Records. He also toured with artists like Sandy Denny, John Martyn and also shared billing with Nick Drake.
As you can expect, his craft is well seasoned and the ability to create a little magic on the frets of his 6-string guitar is not in question. Greaves writes from personal experiences and his stories of the heart fit perfectly with his acoustic guitar playing. Quietly expressive and exuding a confidence borne of the years, a gentle sound that is both current and connected.
Half the songs on this 2-cd release appeared on earlier releases, with both A PIECE OF THIS LIFE (2006) and YOUNGER BY THE HOUR (2015) given equal billing and showcasing his ability over the years to maintain a high standard of both playing and writing. Each disc contains 11 songs and there are traces of early John Martyn in the guitar phrasing on tracks like A Piece Of This Life, Killing Time (From the Neck Up) and Wild Card on disc one. Legacy is an interesting song with nice playing from the assembled musicians. Fool’s Gold, The Desperate Hours and From Cannery Row are other fine examples of the craft at play here but really the overall listening experience never gets to be a burden across the 80+ minutes
The band sound on disc two is more prevalent and songs such as Sunflowers, Phantasy, The Longing For You and Me & Lucky is beautifully proportioned and the production standards are of the highest quality. I Love Ya Babe and Page 75 are tender and sweetly delivered.
Greaves wrote all the songs and there are 5 co-writes across the 22-track collection. There are a quite a few musicians credited on these tracks across time, as this Legacy collection is just that – a legacy. Dedicated to his father George Greaves who died in January of this year, there is a sense of time passing and memories left behind in a number of the songs, as if the intervening years have all come back to say a quick hello and leave again with a smile.
Of the songs included, 4 tracks were recorded in 1994 (in Hull) and a further 7 in 2003 (in France). There were 5 more recorded in 2006 (in Yorkshire) and another 6 in 2014 (in Scarborough & London). The songs are all very engaging and the different dynamic on the band numbers are a nice contrast against the solo tracks with just guitar and voice. Definitely a record for those who enjoy contemporary Folk sounds, a relaxing look into the talent of this singer-songwriter who has flown under the radar for too long now.
Review by Paul McGee
Mia Arends & Michael Deering Rough Magic Self Release
In 2007 this musical duo recorded their debut release, COVER ART. It was a 20-track project that yielded a very generous one-hour-plus of cover versions, based around favourite songs and the varied musical influences of both artists.
Now comes their follow-up album which was recorded in Seattle, WA and along with six original songs are more cover songs that display an eclectic mix in the couple’s ever-expanding musical tastes. Songs by Paul Simon, Lennon & McCartney, The Incredible String Band, Blind Willie McTell and Duke Ellington are included, along with other less-known songsmiths. The impressive part of this project is the manner in which the cover versions are seamlessly blended together, to such an extent, that you would not know they were cover versions at all, unless you already were familiar with the original songs.
The simple arrangements and melodies are very easy on the ear and drift along in a pleasant reverie. Deering plays acoustic and slide guitar, mandolin and harmonica and his partner Arends creates all the vocal dynamics and harmonies which lift the songs to a higher place. Deering interprets the songs with a very fluent fingerstyle on guitar and also provides vocals, along with Michael Connolly who plays upright bass, violin, piano, table and snare drum, along with hand percussion. Brad Gibson adds drums and Colin Isler plays cello.
The six original songs are Mend Your Own Heart and Use, both gentle & reflective, and co-written with Seattle singer songwriter Tamara Lewis; Pilgrims & Gone, both written by Michael and displaying sensitive interplay between the musicians; Dreams So Real and Joy, written by Mia and highlighting the vocal layering and prowess that she brings to the pairing. Their talents are equally comfortable with Folk, Blues, Jazz or Pop arrangements and the versions of Norwegian Wood, Mood Indigo, Blue Skies and Baby It Must Be Love, defy all attempts at genre limitation and celebrate the essence of a great song, played with skill and subtlety.
Review by Paul McGee
Parker Gray Luminous Darkness Gallway Bay
This is a collaboration between songwriter Peter Gallway and keyboardist Harvey Jones. Cinematic musical interpretations of 11 poems by Peter Gallway, both spoken and sung, from his collection Big Mercy; inspired by the writings of Raymond Carver, Leonard Cohen, Charlie Smith and others.
The simulated ticking of an old grandfather clock runs through opening track, Romance Comes, which is surrounded by soundscapes that swirl and soothe. Next is a song about Gallway’s father and the life he has lived, A Younger Man’s Hands, internally locked in private thought and in the external World, holding his place in the role of stoic provider. The deep groove of Poetry is ambient funk and the spoken lyric tells of the writing process and the creative conundrum suffered by so many in trying to define some part of this existence, in order to feel relevant.
Nate Birkey plays trumpet on Breathless, with Annie Gallup adding her vocal also, an experimental jazz flavour running through the song. The title track, Luminous Darkness is pure jazz mood in the small hours with the thoughts that musicians really ‘live like lifers without parole.’ Dreamy and delightful. Birkey again on trumpet, creating colour and hue.
One could imagine Grace Jones adding her smouldering voice on a number of these tunes, such is the restrained dynamic and tempo of the arrangements and the sense of sophistication in the richly layered sounds. The sensual flow on Tango being the perfect example!
Rolling Stones, 1964 plays with the ‘The Last Time’ song riff and the repeated rhythm is coaxed into a free-form sound exploration of random effects and noises. The ticking of a metronome sound features on The Uninvited Guest and the sense that Donald Fagen could well be lurking in the dark side of the alley. It could also be Paul Buchanan of the Blue Nile or indeed Talk Talk in their heyday that runs through parts of these ruminations. Some of the songs, like impressions, are prayer-like, the spoken words mirroring Leonard Cohen in style and substance.
Final track, Quiet, is a meditation on passing moments of time, the precious nature of it all, choices made, decisions taken, lives shaped. Deep diving but delivering many moments of light in the darkness of this night journey. Meditative, ground breaking, something other… Compelling!
Peter Gallway’s music is always intimately thought out and presented in a style that is both abstract and intelluctual, defying any attempt to pin it down. Indeed, I must question what the act of trying to label a sound actually achieves? Why this urge to place everything musical into little convenient boxes? Inventive music needs to be embraced and shared. Buy this very fine example of all that is good in the creative expression.
Review by Paul McGee