Rylan Brooks If Wishes Were Horses Self Release
Nate Rylan and Chris Brooks formed this duo when they started writing together, having met as long-distance commercial drivers. Their sound is, as a result, something of a full throttle sound that has its roots in the 70s but also has a nod to 90s country. A slice of rowdy roadhouse rock is evidenced by the opening salvo of Abilene and Hands Off. Easy Street looks at a place where you can hang out if your expectations are on the low side. Then things get a little more country with One Time Woman, Milan and the mediative thoughts expressed in the title track. Theirs is a mix of road stories and relationships, no doubt inspired by the many hours spent looking through a windshield and the motels and bars that they frequented on these trips. The whistled intro to Keeping My Distance adds some atmosphere and the pedal steel creates the ambience that makes this track an immediate stand-out and shows that these guys can travel on more than one route down the highways of life - a life that threw them together with some ladies whose needs were not always what they were able to offer, or wanted to offer. She Loved That Cocaine (more than she loved me) depicts one such encounter. The mid-tempo I Let You Down (Again) is an admission of repeated indiscretions despite wanting to get it right.
Their debut album was released in 2018. It was titled HALF WILD and the cover of that album showed the humorous content that is a part of their outlook. Rylan co-produced that album in Philadelphia. This time out they took a big step forward and recorded the album in Nashville with a producer who understood what they needed to move to the next level. Dean Miller was the man behind the desk and he rounded up some of the best players around to help out. These included Steve Hinson on pedal steel, guitarists Guthrie Trapp and Michael Spiggs and drummer Eddie Bayers. But it is the vocals of the duo which holds the project together. They range from rough-edged songs like Abeline to the more nuanced If Wishes Were Horses and the harmonies of Milan. The lead vocals are largely handled by Brooks but the duo are the key element here in the writing and delivery of the album’s ten cuts.
By their own accounts, the influences on their listening radar range from all the usual suspects of Haggard, Jennings, Bare and Paycheck to Kristofferson, Tom T Hall and through to Dale Watson and a whole lot more. They provide the groundwork that these guys are building from with their music. It has the substance and sincerity of some of the best elements of blue collar country and shows that the duo are ready for the ride.
Review by Stephen Rapid
The Brother Brothers Calla Lily Compass
There is a long list of music produced by brothers who use their sibling blood harmonies as the key element in their sound. Alongside that there are a number of acts who have been influenced by, and have appropriated elements of that sound for their endeavours. Twin brothers David and Adam Moss are exploring their family and musical bond after each working separately on different projects. For this, their second full album, they have begun to develop their sound with producer Ryan Hadlock. But apart from these divine harmonies they are also very accomplished musicians in their own right. David features on guitar, cello, piano and percussion while Adam plays fiddle and keyboards as well as percussion and guitar. They are joined by the rhythm section of Dave Speranza on bass and drummer Brian Kantor, who also adds some vibraphone. Both also add their vocals to the mix. Additionally there are keyboards and electric guitar from Wayne Horvitz and Mike Robinson respectively.
The brothers handle the writing of these songs together with the exception of one song Waiting For A Star To Fall which is a co-write with Taylor Ashton. It is also a layered, expressive song that has the underlying melancholy of enforced loneliness while awaiting something to end that state of mind and is one of the stand-out tracks on the album.
On The Road Again seems like a fairly obvious reaction to the enforced epidemic non-activity, by wishing to get out on the road and play. Sorrow, given its sentiment and title, takes the downbeat line “that it’s the only thing that cares for me” and is conveyed appropriately. The Road Runner Song seems more outgoing and has a beat to drive its humour along but also has a restlessness at its centre. Seein’ Double is a country song that make good use of the electric guitar and the humorous lyrical play on the word “double”- as sort of follow up from their song Notary Public from their debut TUGBOATS EP. There is also a short violin and cello instrumental, A Popuito Doina, that is as evocative as it is brief.
So alongside the vocals par excellence and the undoubted musicianship they can also craft a meaningful lyric. In Circles they sum up a time and place with “hand to mouth living’s no way to get laid in this town / love is like a war when you can’t pick a side”, all of which makes these brothers worth the listen, and overall their chamber-folk/country is a worthy continuation of those close harmony duos. Comparisons with two particular famous duos come up all the time, yet while that’s a valid consideration the Brother Brothers are not in thrall to anyone other than to their own muse. There is a gentleness overall here that is restrained yet has its obvious strengths. This is an album that puts Adam and Davis on the road that they have defined again.
Review by Stephen Rapid
Chillemi With Woman Taxi Gauche
When a press release mentions Lee Hazlewood, Roy Orbison and Nick Cave, this undoubtedly might spark some interest in the music of the artist involved. And indeed, the album WITH WOMAN has hints of these artists to some degree, but I would see it as the kind of music you would hear in a club scene in an episode of Twin Peaks. It is principally the work of Brian Chillemi who plays the twang-fuelled, reverbed guitar and whose voice is an effective element in the sound, without quite having the gravity of the voices of the aforementioned singers - as yet anyway. He is aided here by Kyle Avallone’s organ, bass, guitar and drum machine contributions. The latter is not one of those fancy programmable pieces with sampled drums, but rather one of those old school time-keepers that used to come as part of an early electronic keyboard or the button-pressing rhythm machine favoured by the late 60s lounge or wedding reception players. Adam Amaram adds all sorts of percussion instruments and Nasa Hadizadeh joins Chillemi on vocals for the final track Evil Eye.
That they are based in Los Angeles should come as no surprise. Overall there’s a slightly unreal, moody and unsettling quality to the sound that still has the ability to draw you in to its dark but accessible recesses. Chillemi apparently was previously based in New York where he was a member of the band Organs and Junk Boys which had different musical directions to the music that now bears his own name. He is also a film maker with a love of vintage noir, among other influences. All of these elements, no doubt, have a bearing on the somewhat cinematic nature of the music presented here.
The opening song Neon Bride has an accompanying video that appropriately features Giselle DaMier who played Sandie in the Twin Peaks TV series. He previously released another track (Friend) from the album and both easily lodge themselves into your memory, as do the other nine tracks here which all make for an interesting and arresting body of work. The big guitar, vintage keyboards, drum machine and vocal delivery create a distinctly retro feel that ensures this sound is different enough to stand out in these days of polished production techniques
Describing Chillemi’s music as a ‘dark alt-country’ might be the best tag, if you happen to need one. These tales of love, lust and longing may appear stark at first listen but soon reveal something that is redolent with sonic hooks and a certain calculated strangeness that is both organic and captivating. Here Chillemi asks you to enter his world of found dreams and augmented musical reality and it is one that is inventive and inviting.
Review by Stephen Rapid
The Golden Roses Devil’s In the Details Self Release
A second album from this excellent band who are based in Austin, Texas and who wear their influences proudly on their sleeves. When you mix a blend of Western Swing, Honky Tonk, traditional Country and Red Dirt Outlaw, then what you come up with are these twelve songs, brimming with wonderful playing and plenty of fun filled attitude.
Recorded at Yellow Dog studios in Wimberley, Texas, the album was produced by Adam Odor and all songs were written by frontman, John Mutchler (vocals, guitar). He is joined by the formidable and talented Heather Rae Johnson (fiddle, vocals), Troy Wilson (bass) and Shawnee Rose (drums). There is a guest appearance from Zachary Moulton (pedal steel) and his expressive playing across most of the tracks is particularly impressive. The playing is really tight and yet, there is a loose feel to the swing and tempo that shows just how comfortable these musicians are with each other. The band call their sound, “Texas Country music,” a description that covers much of what can be expected from growing up with a rich heritage in Country music, but The Golden Roses deliver so much more in their collective; attitude and a strong work ethic will get you far. As they sing on Sawed Off and Hauled Off, a song about life on the road, ‘Where we goin’ next? I don’t know, Wherever it is, we’re gonna give em’ a show.’
There is plenty of due reverence to the old standards but their strong contemporary influence in the symmetry of fiddle, pedal steel and twanging guitar adds an extra layer to the performance. Drums and bass anchor the sound with fine swagger and drive the engine room that stokes up these welcome flames. There is also a guest appearance from Mike Harmeier of Mike and the Moonpies on vocals, another quality Austin outfit who have close ties with the Roses.
The opening track, When I’m Gone, kicks things off in style with a great swinging tempo and a hope that estranged family members will come visit the graveside of an exiled father. San Antonio By Sundown follows with a sweet melody and the message that there is only one girl in the world for the disillusioned and weary traveller, ‘I’ll either find her waiting or I’ll find a cold and empty home.’ The band interplay highlighted by the fine vocal tone of John Mutchler, who delivers in a clear and strong vocal throughout.
The easy tempo and jangling guitar of Song I Can’t Write is a nicely paced track about mistakes made along the way, time in jail, friends lost and folks who were wronged. There is a similar theme to No Guitars In Prison, with its message about paying for your crimes and the things that must be forsaken. The fun of Song About My Cowboy Hat is a true tale of Mutchler’s hat being stolen at a gig while they played onstage. It leaves with a warning to all hat thieves ‘The eyes of Texas are upon you.’ There is a terrific Honky Tonk rhythm on other tracks like, Going Going Gone and Boy From the East, Gal from the West, a song about how Mutchler met his wife.
There is traditional Country feel on the title track, Devil’s In the Details, with a slow melody enhanced by both pedal steel and violin lifting the song. Laughing At Myself is another traditional workout that ruminates on the dubious benefits of turning forty; some nice guitar and drum parts to provide the backdrop.
The final track, This Old House is a tale about the memories that are held within the walls of the old family home and a melody that would have fitted perfectly onto a classic George Jones record in times gone by. Smell the Roses is another fine example of traditional Country and a fitting invitation to come and sample the very engaging and energising music of this superb band. Another real gem and highly recommended.
Review by Paul McGee
Josh Washam Squash Blossom Self Release
Originally from the Philadelphia area, this talented singer-songwriter graduated from the Berklee College of Music, before moving to Nashville ten years ago. His approach to music as a qualified producer and engineer is also embellished by his talents as a multi-instrumentalist and this is the third full-length album of a developing career.
Supported by a cast that includes John Wood (drums), Will Cafaro (bass), Steve Peavey (pedal steel, dobro, fiddle, mandocello, concertina), Jeff Adamczyk (organ, keys on four tracks), and Nick Pankey (backing vocals on four tracks), this is a fine example of the high-quality music that is out there, trying to break through to a wider listenership. Commercial radio is no longer the influence that it once was for a developing artist and searching for new outlets has become an increasing challenge in an over-crowded marketplace. However, Josh Washam ticks all the boxes and this is a very interesting new release that highlights his creativity.
Don’t Cost Nothing is a rumination on writing songs, the sense of being in the present, whether taking a walk or just holding hands with the one you love; pedal steel and guitars mixing with mandocello on a very enjoyable opening tune. The easy groove continues with Good Work! and a funky rhythm, all about getting your hands dirty; feeling good in committing to a tough job well done. Some great guitar and organ sounds fill out a compelling backbeat.
Nothing Is Like It Used To Be is a musing on the changing times that are an intrinsic part of growing and learning each day; to just try living your own life, because nobody can ever walk in your shoes. Dream On is a bluesy song that looks at the joys of dreaming and sleeping, and the benefits of not remembering the contents, with some great interplay, as piano and dobro add colours to the arrangement. Record Night is about staying home to enjoy time with your girl and playing whatever takes the mood. Again, some fine ensemble playing with violin and a fine guitar break, augmented by some dynamic drumming that pushes the rhythm.
Grin ‘n’ Bear It has a rock groove and warm organ melody on a track that says sometimes you have to just stand up and take what life throws at you. Rhyme And Reason is a slow melody that reflects on the need to keep working towards your dreams; with violin, mandocello and acoustic guitar mirroring the pain involved in the process, ‘It takes a bit of hard paddling, to get to a dream.’
San Diego is a love letter to the big city and a goodbye to a small hometown, a need to move on and become a laid-back, tanned, beach bum. Time Transpires has a gentle acoustic guitar opening and is a song about getting back to basics, ‘win or lose, you don’t get to choose, Life is just what happens to you.’ Excellent pedal steel supporting the fine fingerpicking style of Washam.
Final track, Sweet 100s, is a tale of picking and eating cherry tomatoes, watching the world pass by and enjoying the moment – just where we came in at the start of the album.
All songs are written by Washam and with a running time just shy of thirty minutes, it’s a great example of turning out engaging, concise songs that are full of personality and fine musicianship.
Review by Paul McGee
Evans McRae Only Skin Self Release
This collaboration is a welcome addition to the respective careers of both artists, Lowri Evans and Tom McRae. Both are already successful solo artists, so it gives great hope to everyone who is an aspiring songwriter to learn that this duo met at a song writing retreat. Given their combined talents and experience in the music industry it is proof positive that everyday is a school day and that you are never fully formed as a songwriter – always open to learning more or refining their current approach.
The songs sound bright and alive with a great production job done by McRae; the arrangements full of inventive playing and a guitar sound with real edge. From a solo career that began with the release of his debut album in 2000, McRae has been feted for his superb craftmanship and song-writing prowess across a number of albums, both studio and live, together with other collaborations and work commissioned for tv and theatre.
Lowri Evans has been producing music with her partner Lee Mason for a number of years, both full length releases and EP’s, singing both in English and her native Welsh tongue. Her debut arrived in 2007 and she hasn’t slowed down since, displaying a strong work ethic and an unquenching desire to keep growing as an artist. There are quite a few players on this album and without individual details giving who plays what, it would be guesses at best. Suffice to say that all involved do themselves proud on a project that crackles with wonderful playing and production quality.
Say What You Mean is about loneliness, a breakdown in communication between lovers. Gentle arrangement with piano and guitar with Evans taking lead vocal before being joined by McRae in a duet that is gently haunting.
Only Skin is another look at relationships with both voices delivering fine harmony performances. A slow bluesy number that looks below the surface to examine real emotion hidden from outward view. The hint of horns in the arrangement and a distant lap steel echoing the mood.
Careful lifts the tempo with a nice drum rhythm that stays in the pocket and allows some fine bass playing to drive the atmospheric arrangement that is a tension infused look at a devious lover.
High and Lonesome follows with a nicely laid-back feel to the delivery and some sweet interplay, shared vocals between Evans and McRae, adding to the lovely string arrangement and piano motif. Love’s A Loaded Gun is piano and vocal declaring the regret of an old flame that has gone out. The expressive vocal of Evans resonating before McRae comes in on the call and answer duet, showing both sides of the same hurt. A terrific song.
Sleep With One Eye Open takes things up a notch with co-vocals in an arrangement that is more commercial, with a bigger production and a backing vocal posse that push the angst - guitar solo peaking with the sense of foreboding. Hold On is a restrained acoustic performance with piano playing out the message to stay strong and endure the hard times that fall into our path.
Welsh choir, Ar Ól Tr, on Merry Christmas My Darling (Drink Up) add both an uplifting quality with plenty of atmospheric voices in a celebration of being alive and in the present and enjoying good company. Another great co-vocal performance from Evans and McRae also.
Stays the Same has a nice swing to the arrangement and a harmonica adding to the drum shuffle and pedal steel, trumpet and backing vocals giving a little Morricone edge to the sound. There is a restrained grace to songs like Eddie, a personal memory of a lost friend or confidante. Lowri really has the voice of an angel, at one turn sweet and subtle, at another a powerhouse of emotion. Final song, Just Falls Apart, tells of frustration and anger at a God who waits, looking on and not caring enough to intervene in the worldly woe that he oversees, ‘Let the child you made take on all the strain, While you raise a stone and take your aim.’
A superbly crafted album with some real quality in the songs and their delivery; beautifully performed and extremely impressive. A real keeper.
Review by Paul McGee
McKain Lakey Somewhere Self Release
With a musical style that embraces the new as passionately as it values the past, the somewhat nomadic McKain Lakey wears her heart on her sleeve on this eleven-track album. It’s the first full length album from this gifted musician, who plays banjo, fiddle, electric guitar and acoustic guitar (handmade by her) and is the possessor of the vocal skills to match.
The album was recorded at Crackle & Pop! Studio in Ballard, Washington. Rather than engaging a producer with a track record of working old time country albums, she sought out Seattle’s finest Johnny Sangster to do the honours. His history includes producing and engineering cutting edge acts such as Mudhoney, The Posies and Supersuckers, as well as serving as a touring guitarist and keyboard player with Neko Case. He captured Lakey’s vocals and playing live to tape, combining them with the free-flowing contribution by her studio rhythm section.
She’s equally at home hip shaking on the soulful Movies Treated You Better as she is swinging on the Cajun flavoured number Crush on You. The jazzy Decibel Jezebel also stands out, all the better for a ripping saxophone solo by Jane Covert-Bowlds. Elsewhere, the more relaxed Microscope is simply gorgeous, sounding like a forgotten classic song that you haven’t heard in decades. That chilled side of her arsenal repeats on the haunting banjo lead love ballad Begin Again before she dons her Stetson on the pedal steel kissed honky tonker Queer As Fuck.
A habitual traveller, McKain Lakey’s wayfaring has brought her into contact with musical lineage from traditional folk and old time Country to Dixieland and Zydeco. SOMEWHERE is a celebration of these multiple traditions by a fiercely devoted artist, who oozes a musical worldliness which is both refreshing and intoxicating.
Some noticeable parallels can be drawn between this album and the work of Alynda Segarra and her vehicle Hurrah For The Riff Raff. If that comparison excites you, this album is right up your street and one that will bombard your senses on a number of fronts.
Review by Declan Culliton
Ashley Monroe Rosegold Thirty Tigers
“I’ll never not be ‘twangy country girl, but ‘twangy country girl’ can write other styles of music as well,” announces Ashley Monroe on the release of her fifth solo album ROSEGOLD. It’s her most experimental recording to date and finds her replacing the honky tonk sound of her earlier work with synthesized echoes and electrified drum beats. The sole reminder of her previous albums are her heavenly vocals, delivered layer upon layer on this occasion.
Despite recording albums that stand shoulder to shoulder with those from the finest female country acts in recent decades, commercial success has somewhat evaded her. LIKE A ROSE from 2013 was particularly striking and in previous decades would have been a career launcher, leading to sweeping industry recognition. Her countrypolitan crossover album SPARROW, released in 2018, would undoubtedly have been a huge seller in the 1960’s. Instead, it made little impact, resulting in Warner Music dropping her from their roster. That rejection may have been the motivation to dust herself down and like her colleagues Miranda Lambert and Angaleena Presley in their side project Pistol Annies, be more market driven with this recording. Either way, ROSEGOLD, finds her deserting her roots and country leanings and heading down a heavily synthesised poppy/R&B orientated path.
Recording the album on a ‘song by song’ basis, she invited a number of writers and collaborators, all of whom could boast previously commercially successful track records. Big hitters such as Nathan Chapman (Taylor Swift, Lady A), Mikey Reaves (Maren Morris), Jake Mitchell (Ashley Mc Bride, Luke Bryan) and Jordan Reynolds (Maddie & Tae, Dan + Shay) all made contributions.
The drum beat and distorted vocals on Siren are an early pointer to the album’s direction and much of the album, for this listener, suffers from over production. There are a number of highpoints on the album, not least the gorgeous Til’ It Breaks, although I’d like to hear the song stripped back minus the drum beats. The least cluttered and piano led track Flying impresses, as does the dreamlike Gold. Wearing her heart on her sleeve, I Mean It is a heartfelt love song and she bookends the album with the aptly titled The New Me.
Ashley Monroe has more than paid her dues in Nashville and deserves the commercial success that ROSEGOLD will most likely deliver. It’s an album very much in the ‘here and now’ of what is being recorded under the country music banner in Nashville. It also places her in the market with successful female crossover pop/country artists such as Maren Morris, Miranda Lambert and Kelsey Ballerini. Unfortunately, it also probably closes the door on her returning to the roots and twang of her early recordings, following in the footsteps of a number of gifted country artists who were compelled to ditch their country leanings in favour of a more radio friendly musical direction.
Review by Declan Culliton
Maia Sharp Mercy Rising Crooked Crown
An indication of Maia Sharp’s talent as a songwriter can be found in the list of household names that have recorded her songs. Cher, The Chicks, Art Garfunkel, Bonnie Raitt and Trisha Yearwood have all dipped into her songbook and chosen songs to include on their albums. A prolific songwriter, MERCY RISING is the eight release from Sharp whose debut solo album HARDLY GLAMOUR surfaced in 1997.
The album’s recording began at Joshua Grange’s Resistor Studios in Nashville following Maia Sharp’s relocation to Music City from Los Angeles. A player and engineer that has worked with Lucinda Williams, Lera Lynn, Sheryl Crow and Conor Oberst, Grange tracked guitar alongside Ross Mc Reynolds on drums and Will Honaker on bass. The recording was completed at Sharp’s home studio where she added acoustic guitar, keys and vocals.
The album was born out of her move to Nashville at the beginning of 2019 and the upheaval experienced over the past twenty-four months are captured on the twelve songs. A tornado, a bombing downtown and Covid-19 were not her expected welcome when she decided to start a new life in Music City. The material is often directed towards self-examination, as Sharp assesses the present and lets go of the past.
The style is classic singer songwriter combining crafty ballads with excursions into country with Whatever We Are and radio friendly pop with the catchy Backburner. Fractured relationships, possibly imagined but more likely lived, emerge on Nice Girl and Not Your Friend. The title track is a plea for normality and empathy, from both a personal and general aspect and is very much a song of its time.
A prolific wordsmith and wonderful vocalist, it’s not surprising that Maia Sharp’s songbook has been raided by a host of artists. No doubt MERCY RISING includes tracks that will also feature on recordings by others in the future. In the meantime, tune in and visit this most eloquent suite of songs.
Review by Declan Culliton