Domenic Cicala Come On Over (The Honky Tonk Duets) Tortured Artists
From the opening bars of the first song Loving Arms, you know you going to be embraced by a similar audio experience. The pedal steel that is prominent throughout lays out a stylistic road map that is rooted in the classic country duets of the past.To that you can add a sense of a definite love for these songs and for the project. The album in itself is nothing new; simply a set of songs performed in classic country duet style. However, it is an exercise in relaxed and resolute styling and making the right choice of song fro be covered. The warmth of Cicala’s voice set against a number of female duet partners who, alongside Cicala’s warm vocals, would tend towards the spotlight for the most part. Which is nothing against Cicala’s delivery, as he performs his part of the equation with aplomb.
He only began performing in a solo capacity, by all accounts, in the late 2000’s and released his first album (WHO’S FOOLIN’ WHO?) in 2014. Previous to that he had played in the Americana band Vincent 52. This project was recorded over a period of three years or so. That may account for the added sense of ease and comfort to the nine songs featured here. Cicala is a Washington DC based artist and has brought in many of the best roots musicians from the area to perform on the songs, not least Lynn Kasdorf on pedal steel and Gary Ferguson on guitars, to mention two among the other fine players featured. However, it is his chosen duet partners who will no doubt garner some attention here. They are BettySoo, Michelle Hannan, Rachel Harrington, Janine Wilson, Mindy Miller and Jaimee Harris. A collection of singers who each bring something considered and assured with their vocals and an understanding of the songs. So it seems unnecessary to highlight one singers contribution over another as they all work in context and feel compatible overall.
The songs are Loving Arms by Tom Jans (which has been recorded by many including Doby Gray), Drinking Too Much written by Fred Eaglesmith, both of which feature Michelle Hannan. Jaimee Harris joins in on the cover of the Tift Merritt/John Howie Jnr song If Only You Were Mine, originally recorded on a duet EP by the Two Dollar Pistols. I Want Out and Come On Over (the latter not the Shania Twain song but a country take on the Bee Gees song) find Cicala singing with Rachel Harrington. Mindy Miller is the partner on We Had It All which was written by Donnie Fritts and Troy Harold Seals for Waylon Jennings. Miller also features on the Sean Locke/Billy Montana song The Coldest Fire In Town, which was originally recorded by Pinmonkey with Elizabeth Cook. Appropriately, the final song is another much covered and loved song. The tender and fragile If I Needed You by Townes Van Zandt finds Janine Wilson as the duet ally on this one.
When listening to this album I felt, at first, that I would be making comparisons to other versions of these well-chosen songs, but instead I found myself just enjoying these songs for what they are. No doubt it is something of a side project but also a labour of love for Cicala and his friends. My only slight concern is that it would take a pretty sedate honky tonk setting to appreciate these songs as they are here. In your own home, or on the right jukebox in the right location though, they offer a very enjoyable thirty-five minutes of music to unwind to.
Review by Stephen Rapid
Dean Owens The Burning Heart -The Desert Trilogy EP’s Vol.1 Songboy
With many strings to his bow and seldom without a very full workload, Edinburgh’s Dean Owens has four recordings due for release in the coming months. His album SINNER’S SHRINE, recorded at Wavelab Studios in Tucson, Arizona, with Calexico members Joey Burns and John Convertino, is due for an autumn release. The album was recorded prior to the arrival of Covid-19 and tracks from it are included on a three volume EP project titled DESERT TRILOGY that precedes the release of the full album. The EP’s will be released individually in March, May and July of this year. The songs that are included on the EP’s are a combination of material recorded during the album sessions and home recordings during lockdown, aided by long distance contributions by a number of Owen’s fellow musician friends.
2019 saw the release of Owen’s collaboration BUFFALO BLOOD, a project where he joined Neilson Hubbard, Audrey Spillman and Joshua Brit to record an album of songs exploring the migration of Native Americans from their homelands. The album was recorded outdoors in the New Mexico desert. Owen’s devotion to travel and the musical and writing inspirations offered to him by such voyages come very much to the fore once more on THE DESERT TRILOGY recordings. Fascinated in particular by the states of Arizona, New Mexico and California and their desert lands, the material conjures up scenes of ghostly celestial spheres, burning suns and scorching sands.
New Mexico previously featured on Owens’ debut album THE DROMA TAPES, in a quite skeletal format. The reconstructed version breathes new life into the song. With the Calexico team on board, Jacob Valenzuela on trumpet and complete with handclaps, it’s a sparkling affair. A similar styling repeats on the carefully measured and refined Here Comes Paul Newman, which was inspired by the classic film Hud and the spaghetti western soundtracks composed by Ennio Morricone. That cinematic critique is also perfectly captured on Riverline, where the atmosphere is further enhanced by nimble percussion and tuneful whistling. The final track Tombstone Rose is a tender-hearted ballad, its minimalistic approach features only vocals and nylon string guitar. Written during lockdown, its subject matter is a desert plant waiting for rain and rejuvenation. Its wider message suggests a reflection on the world we currently reside in and our own regeneration as we await liberation from the current pandemic.
Attractively packaged with a most impressive sleeve design, THE BURNING HEART is a mouth-watering taster for what we can look forward to from Owens’ recordings in the coming months and a pointer towards what is likely to be his most accomplished work to date.
Review by Declan Culliton
John Blek Digressions#2 Grounded Warr
Written and recorded at home during COVID-19 quarantine restrictions, GROUNDED continues John Blek’s prolific recording output of recent years. The album follows his DIGRESSIONS #1 LIVE AT STUDIOWZ, which he released last May. A ten-track album, it was recorded in Pembrokeshire, Wales in April 2019 and was a live recording, coming after four studio albums previously released by John in consecutive years.
The pandemic, and the enforced lifestyle changes that ensued, turned John’s attentions to subjects closer to home when composing this album’s material. Marrying his long-term soul mate Ciara O’Leary Fitzpatrick in July also opened a new chapter in the life for the Cork born folk singer. The result is an album of quite uplifting songs, openly honest and thought provoking. It’s also a diversion from his traditional skeletal recording style and finds him experimenting, quite successfully it has to be said, with a synthesiser and drum machine.
Simple homely delights surface on the punchy love ballad Right Moves, where walks in the woods, dances in the kitchen and singalongs to Van the Man are fondly recalled. A glorious summer, despite lockdowns and restrictions, is commemorated on Summer’s Lament. Sage advice, imparted by his father who was also John’s best man at his wedding, is recounted in the spoken word My Father’s Son. It also reads as a reminder to himself of principles and ethics that he may himself need to utilise in the future. Like A Child is a ‘prodigal child’ type elegy and a reminder of doors that are never fully closed. The equally affecting Thin Air celebrates the liberation from anxieties, whether at present or in an afterlife. A similar theme emerges on the closing track Joy In Sorrow. A gentle ballad, it proclaims fond remembrance and celebration of a passing life, rather than sorrow and despair.
More than anything else, GROUNDED is a joyful and introspective album. Vulnerability and sorrow emerge in the song writing but are ultimately conquered by optimism. The construction of the songs is certainly a change in direction for the composer, but the end result is every bit as satisfying as we’ve come to expect from this treasured songsmith.
Review by Declan Culliton
Kimon Kirk Altitude Dos Kay
Los Angeles based musician, singer songwriter and producer Kimon Kirk has toured as a bass player with a lot of big hitters. Aimee Mann, Gaby Moreno, Alejandro Escovedo, Session Americana, Grant-Lee Phillips, Amy Correia, Sarah Borges, Jennifer Kimball and Kris Delmhorst have all offered him a seat on their tour buses over the years. Production duties for a host of artists such as Dennis Brennan, Lyle Brewer, David Champagne and Steve Shook have also added to his workload, alongside lecturing in songwriting and music performance at Berklee College of Music, Georgetown University and Boston University.
ALTITUDE is his first solo album in ten years, having released SONGS FOR SOCIETY in 2011 and it’s well worth the wait. Packed with melodic songs that make an instant impact on first listen, Kirk has coined a suite of songs that land somewhere between the 60’s countrified pop of The Byrds and the quintessential power pop of Big Star.
Tracks like Evergreen and Trampoline are breezy and beautifully constructed gems. They are also the opening two tracks of twelve on the album and they simply bombard the senses. Sarah Borges adds backing vocals on the latter and also on the Jayhawks sounding The Girl I Used To Know. Kirk’s former employer Aimee Mann joins the party, adding her honeyed voice on the album’s stand out song Baby Who Knows, a song that she shared the song writing credits on. It boasts a melody and hooks that are impossible to shake off and demands a hit on the replay button. Kirk is equally comfortable with a lighter foot on the gas pedal with soothers like Halfway Right, the otherworldly What Do I Know and the retrospective My Old Neighbourhood.
Not surprisingly, Kirk self-produced the album and contributed vocals and guitar. His studio band that contributes to the fine sound throughout were Lyle Brewer on lead guitar, Jamie Edwards on keyboards, Jim Haggerty on bass and John Sands on drums.
There is hardly a weak moment on this album, which gifts the listener twelve sparkling and jaunty songs that resonate in the mind long after they have finished. An album that’s so easy to fall in love with.
Review by Declan Culliton
Spencer Cullum Coin Collection Yewknee
In a city that can boast a wealth of homegrown gifted pedal steel instrumentalists, Londoner Spencer Cullum has established himself amongst Nashville’s finest players. A co-founder, with Jeremy Fetzer, of the instrumental space country duo Steelism, Cullum is also a member of Miranda Lambert’s band and has recorded with Dolly Parton, Andrew Combs, Caitlin Rose and Dylan Le Blanc.
His debut solo album’s origins are disclosed in its title COIN COLLECTION, which finds Cullum revisiting music and genres dear to his heart, of yesteryear. He has temporarily abandoned the sounds of his adopted home of Nashville, returning for influences to his birth country. The album’s direction visits the Canterbury Brit Folk of the late 60’s, together with scatterings of prog rock, jazz and krautrock.
Produced by Grammy winning producer Jeremy Ferguson (Lambchop, Nicole Atkins, Joshua Hedley) at his Battle Tapes Recording studio in Nashville, it features vocal contributions from neighbours Caitlin Rose and Erin Rae. Other members of that tight knit East Nashville musical community that also lend a hand are Andrew Combs, Sean Thompson and multi-instrumentalist Luke Reynolds.
The jaunty Tombre En Morceaux lands somewhere between Robert Wyatt and Caravan and Kevin Ayers, one of the mentors that inspired the album, comes to mind on the sweeping The Dusty Floor. He takes a detour from the U.K. to Germany and tips his hat to NEU! on the powerful instrumental Dietrich Buxtehude. The eight-track album closes with a cover of The Incredible String Band’s The Tree. While remaining close to the original, it is enhanced by the addition of backing vocals in the chorus. Similarly enriched by accompanying vocals alongside those of Cullum’s is the ballad Jack Of Fools which opens the album.
Circling back to sounds more celebrated back in the 60’s and 70’s may very well be a diversion from the day job for Cullum. Regardless, it’s an intoxicating mix, probably best described as alt-folk, by an artist with more than one string to his bow. A delightful listen in its own right, it’s also likely to jumpstart a revisit to some of the classic music and artists that it brings to mind.
Review by Declan Culliton
Rod Abernethy Normal Isn’t Normal Anymore Self Release
On his impressive website, this artist defines himself as a southern troubadour, storyteller and solo guitar player. Somewhat short of the full story, as Abernethy has many more strings to his bow, including accolades as an award-winning composer for film, TV, and video games. He also creates steampunk robots from antique parts and found objects around his home in Raleigh, North Carolina.
This new album is his third solo outing since 2018 and this time around Abernethy has used Grammy-nominated producer Neilson Hubbard and recorded the tracks at Skinny Elephant Recording, Nashville. The musicians involved, apart from Abernethy on guitars and vocals, are Will Kimbrough on additional guitars and mandolin, Michael Rinne on bass, Nielson Hubbard on drums, Dan Mitchell on piano, David Henry on cello and Mia Ernst on backing vocals, augmented by Hubbard, Kimbrough, Rinne.
One of the songs on the album is a cover version of the Bob Dylan 1962 classic, Oxford Town, with a back story of entering it into a competition run by American Songwriter Magazine, where Abernethy won the grand prize.
His fluent guitar style and finger picking dexterity are very prominent across all tracks but his deft touch as a lyricist of some perception may get lost in the overall mix to his many talents. Abernethy has a good balance of social commentary (Another Year and Normal Isn’t Normal Anymore) and personal perspective (My Father Was A Quiet Man and Just Around the Corner). He also pens a fun slice of life on Birds In the Chimney, turning frowns into smiles with a well observed tale. Again, on the wry look at self sabotage, It’s Always Something, he quips ‘It’s always something that I did, Or didn’t do.’
Get In the Car is a personal song that Abernethy wrote with his deceased brother in mind, imagining a conversation they would have around taking a road trip together. When Tobacco Was King is a commentary on the mass hypnosis that the corporate lies of 50’s and 60’s generations ingested from the tobacco industry and the way that history is repeating today with current vaping habits. There is a cover version of the John Mayer song, Changing, which suggests that being aware to the twists and turns of life will keep your options always open. There are two instrumentals included, both of which featured on the Without A Word release from last year. Over the Fence is light and breezy while Whiskey and Pie is more rhythmic with 12-string guitar creating a strong tempo.
The life lessons handed down in the standout, My Father Was a Quiet Man, is a quality piece of writing, with memories of his own father giving him a first guitar, to their bonding in grief over the passing of his brother and the hopes he has for his own son as he grows. This is a very well-constructed release and certainly one that will enhance the already impressive reputation of Rod Abernethy.
Review by Paul McGee
Andrew McConathy & the Drunken Hearts Alive ’n’ Free Self Release
This is a live album and takes in all three prior studio releases from this interesting band. There are thirteen tracks included and the running time is just short of an hour, so there is plenty to enjoy, including three new songs and dynamic interplay between McConathy on acoustic guitar and vocals, Alex Johnson on drums, Jon McCartan on bass, Cody Russell on pedal steel, lap steel, and dobro and Kory Montgomery on electric guitar and vocals.
Produced by McConathy & Todd Divel at his Silo Studio in Denver, the tracks were recorded by sound engineer Taylor Hines during a 20-gig tour in late 2020 and then mixed and mastered. The sound is classic Americana with hints of the Allman Brothers woven through a number of the songs. The interplay between Montgomery and Russell is very much the driving dynamic in the band sound with the rhythm section of Johnson and McCartan providing a solid bedrock for the expressive soloing. McConathy has a vocal tone that carries the songs along a familiar path with good range and character in the delivery.
The absence of almost all crowd reaction is somewhat strange, given that this is a live album, with the fade out on the songs cutting most of this away. The live feel does shine through however with the band members displaying a polished, tight sound, with workouts on tracks like Fire In A House and In the Middle showing fine energy. The driving rhythm on Shining Eyes is built upon by Montgomery and Russell with some nice guitar dynamics that excite. Title track of their last album, Wheels Of the City, slows things down and gives McConathy the space to deliver a soulful vocal performance.
There are a lot of references to the road, especially on earlier tracks, Tell Me, Happy, Unrest and Don’t Go, songs that speak of spinning wheels, going back home, lack of sleep and missing the girl; code of the road motifs. Black Snake introduces harmonica and a song that builds to a fine crescendo, with some great guitar driven, rhythmic solos. Want You Back is another up-tempo arrangement with great band dynamic and the twin guitar attack providing the fuel that drives the beat. Prom Night is a cover song that has McConathy singing strongly against the great bass lines of McCartan and the change of tempo, mid-song, allows for some interesting back-and-forth between the players when the arrangement picks back up again. A real highlight among many impressive tracks.
Denver, Colorado has something in the air that produces a band of this quality and a live act that would be a joy to experience in full flow.
Review by Paul McGee
Elvis Perkins Creation Myths MIR/Petaluma
Released in the final months of 2020, this is a peek inside the creative mind of an artist who has been active since the release of his debut album, back in 2007. Two subsequent releases, in 2009 and 2015, don’t really tell the story of this talented musician, who in recent years has been collaborating with his actor/director brother, Osgood, on film scores. One such project has been Blackcoat's Daughter which was released in 2017. Being the son of famous actor, Anthony Perkins, clearly exposed Elvis to much in the way of creative individuals and influences as he grew up. His family lineage includes fashion designers, art experts, astronomers, psychic mediums and actors. The fact that he was named after Elvis Presley gives insight into the dynamic at play and the shaping of a talent from an early age.
This album has many influences, taken from the wide panorama of music, and it’s hard to find a central sound to define the recording. There are Beatle-esque sweeps of melody and the use of horns is a constant throughout. Balanced with this is the evocative pedal steel sound on some songs and the psychedelic, dream-like backdrop for others like on Sing Sing, with its cryptic lyrics and broad message to just enjoy the moment and not let outside factors cramp your style. The use of strings and synth sounds swells the arrangement. Similarly, See Monkey, has a big production with grand horn sweeps and melodic drifts that channel 60’s Pop sounds.
Produced, engineered and mixed by Sam Cohen, who also plays bass, pedal steel, percussion and electric guitar; with Perkins on guitar, piano, sitar, harmonium, moog and singing duties, this is very much a twin project. Daydream sequences like that of I Know, You Know takes a skewed look at relationships and how separate we all are in our singular existence. Pedal Steel blends perfectly with the isolation. Mrs. & Mr. E hints at domestic conundrums and again the theme of separateness is explored with pedal steel echoing the distance between.
The gentle swoon of Iris is a love song to a special person who equates to the entire universe and all it contains; moons, suns, supernovas, islands, diamonds, black holes and cataract skies. On the other hand, Half Life is a song that reflects self-doubt and a reluctance towards commitment, ‘Half of the time, I think twice to myself, Am I halving the time of my life?’ Again, pedal steel plays a nice melody line with violin and piano enhancing the sound. The brass section returns for an almost vaudevillian arrangement on Promo and what seems to be a swipe at our automated ways of living, following the lure of retail therapy and numbing the pain in front of tv sports, drinking beer, while the corporate giants turn the screw on what to promote and sell as essential lifestyle purchases. It would fit nicely into any number of movies.
See Through is just that, a look at transparent lives and wanting to hide away from all those messy feelings. ‘I’ll leave you alone with your headphones We’ll be just fine.’ The string arrangement and muted horns is again back to Beatles territory in feel. Final track, Anonymous, is a song of desire with the enigmatic ‘other’ so hard to pin down; ‘you are the one who’s gone crazy, you are the rain, who fell out of love.‘
All very engaging and enriching, this album is a far step from his initial Folk roots. However, it is painted with many colours and well worth exploring the hidden depths that await within.
Review by Paul McGee
John John Brown Americana Comics Self Release
A second album from this contemporary Folk artist who was born in New Milford, Connecticut. The seven tracks are all story songs, based around different characters that represent everyman and the ways in which we try to navigate life on a daily basis in order to survive.
From the schizophrenic shopper in the mall, On Black Friday I Met Jesus, to the veteran of the Vietnamese war who is haunted by his past actions, Where the Good Buzz Goes, both tales are a look at the real cost of damage suffered by the individuals concerned. Graduation Day is a fine song that looks at the blossoming of young dreams, cruelly cut short by a motor accident. The tragic consequences and loss of life, trapping a ghost who haunts the lake site of the tragedy. An inventive use of lyrical and musical ideas.
Mary is a song that reflects on the life of a young girl who lives out the aimless ramblings of her mother from town to town and lover to lover. It’s a really sad look at what gets sacrificed along the way to adulthood and the scars that remain. The Armadillo Song is a fun look at finding road kill that suddenly turns out to be still alive and intent on revenge. Yossi the Balloon Man is another slice of life that highlights the colourful characters in local neighbourhoods and the past that can be carried – in this case, the haunting memory of war, concentration camps, and finally, new life in another country. An immigrant tale of moving on and making something real.
Big Old Beard is another example of clever song-writing that looks at growing a beard, spreading well beyond imagination and the tune is given an old timey arrangement with fiddle and upright bass.
John John Brown provides lead vocals, acoustic guitar and harmonica, with Andy Stack contributing electric guitar, acoustic guitar, mandolin, pedal steel, piano, keys and backup vocals. They are joined by Jacob Silver on upright and electric bass, Konrad Meissner on drums and percussion, Jeremy Baum on B3 Organ and Adrien Reju on backup vocals.
Don’t take it all so seriously, is the abiding message here and these songs bear testament to a real talent when it comes to raising a smile and handing out life lessons at the same time. The release is accompanied by an illustrated comic book (drawn by Sapri Andy), plus online videos of selected songs in an innovative way to promote the album. All excellently captured and realised in different creative forms to add to the enjoyment and fun.
Review by Paul McGee