Dylan LeBlanc Pastimes ATO Records
Ten years into a career that has yielded four celebrated albums, Dylan LeBlanc gives a thumbs up to some of the artists that have inspired his career with PASTIMES, a six track EP of particularly well chosen cover versions.
Far from randomly chosen, each song had a deeply personal significance for the artist, recalling specific moments or incidents as a boy and into his teenage years. Followers of Dylan’s distinctive sound won’t be surprised to find a Buffalo Springfield song on the album. A band that hugely influenced his musical trajectory, on the first spin of Expecting To Fly, you could be forgiven for assuming the lead vocal was taken by Neil Young. While not straying too far from the original, Dylan manages to impose his own stamp on the song, giving it a fuller and more dramatic dynamic.
Memories as a child of accompanying his father to hear him play at smoky dive bars in Muscle Shoals led him to J.J. Cale’s songbook and the smouldering bluesy Sensitive Guy. Even earlier childhood memories of his grandfather singing and playing guitar to Glen Campbell’s Easy On My Mind motivated its inclusion. Led Zeppelin’s Going To California was a song played regularly at coffee shop shows by a teenage Dylan, often to attract the attention of the fairer sex and its assured acoustic version recall those days. If that song was a mating call, he also acknowledges the artists that opened his eyes to the art of storytelling as a means of songwriting. Unsurprisingly, a Bob Dylan selection features in the form of Blind Willie Mc Tell which appeared on Dylan’s THE BOOTLEG SESSIONS Volumes 1 – 3. The final song is a reworking of Play With Fire, which was the B-side of The Rolling Stones single The Last Time from 1965. The song is transformed into something even greater by the addition of strings, awarding it a richer styling than the original.
Recorded live at Fame Recording Studios in Muscle Shoals, PASTIMES is a tantalising flavour of the music that channelled the young Dylan down a musical path. It is also a most pleasing listen while we await the next instalment of original material from an artist that has so much to offer.
Review by Declan Culliton
Jim Keller By No Means Continental Record Services
The four-decade career of Jim Keller has included roles in every corner of the music industry. The co-founder of San Francisco rock band Tommy Tutone back in 1978, the subsequent years have found Keller working in publishing, management and production, alongside writing, performing and recording.
Very much a cult figure on the New York music scene, his shows at The Lakeside Lounge and The Rockwood Music Hall often feature visiting musicians and local players joining him on stage. BY NO MEANS is his fourth solo recording, seven years after the release of HEAVEN CAN WAIT (2014).
The album was co-produced by Mitchell Froom (Los Lobos, Suzanna Vega, Randy Newman) and David Boucher (Randy Newman, The Indigo Girls, Andrew Bird), Froom also features on keyboards. Keller also surrounded himself with an ace bunch of musicians in the studio. David Hidalgo of Los Lobos fame plays guitar, and bass guitar comes from Bob Glaub, whose previous employers include Bob Dylan, Steve Miller and John Lennon. Michael Urbano, who contributes drums can also name check some big hitters that he has played behind, John Hiatt and Sheryl Crowe for starters. Also joining the party was Vonda Shepard, who adds backing vocals on Wild Love.
Collectively they create a tantalising flavour of blues fused roots songs delivered by Keller’s inimitable weather-beaten vocals. Leonard Cohen’s Tower Of Song is recalled on the gorgeous Maria Come Home. The distinctive New Orleans’s vibe surfaces on Easy Rider and even more so on Mistakes. The latter’s vocal delivery nods in the direction of Chuck Prophet. The muscular Don’t Get Me Started includes an amount of sly humour alongside addictive bass and drum beats.
Career wise, Keller manages successfully to keep several balls in the air. He channels elements of those life experiences into songs that never attempt to overwhelm the listener and, on the contrary, draw his audience in from the get go. He achieves that and much more on this hugely enjoyable album.
Review by Declan Culliton
Jenny Don't and the Spurs Fire on the Ridge Self Release
It’s a wonder that FIRE ON THE RIDGE, the third full album from Portland’s Jenny Don’t and The Spurs, ever saw the light of day. Vocal cord surgery and a pandemic are not what you would expect to encounter when preparing to record, but the onset of both resulted in the album being recorded over a period of two years.
Following successful surgery, Jenny’s vocals, a big feature in the band’s sound, are back to their finest. The band self-reference their output as Western Outlaw Garage and the album shifts between country twangers (Restless Moon, California Cowboy), fully blown rockabillies (Train Ticket, She’s Not The One) and blazing border romps (Queen Of The Desert, Johnny Vagabond, Fire On The Ridge).
The band were formed when Jenny, who had been fronting her own band and playing solo shows in Portland, hooked up with members of the garage rock band Pierced Arrows and punk band Problems. That marriage of punk sentiment and aching country subtlety is all over the album, blending Jenny’s bruised and tender lyrics with players who can let rip in places and yet also master the art of unfussy two step country elsewhere.
Very much a touring band who spend a lot of the year on the road, they have infused that live sound and energy into FIRE ON THE RIDGE. It also sounds very much like a good time was had by all during the recording, by a band that deserves to reach a wide audience.
Review by Declan Culliton
Rose City Band Earth Trip Thrill Jockey
Another album that may not have seen the light of day had it not been for the pandemic, Rose City Band is essentially a vehicle for Ripley Johnson to record his own music, divorced from his other life as a member of San Francisco experimental psychedelic rock bands Wooden Shjips and Moon Duo.
Given the times that the material was written, it’s little surprise that much of the sentiment dwells on the loss of freedom but also delights in the return of life’s simple pleasures, too often denied to the touring musician.
There’s a marked simplicity to Earth Trip, often alluding to a return to childhood, less complicated times and casting away responsibilities. That relaxed and laid-back feel kicks in from the opener Silver Roses with Johnson’s chilled vocals cloaked in delicate pedal steel guitar. Even when the pace is picked up somewhat on Ramblin’ With The Day, as the title implies, Johnson is still in cruise control. Similar sentiments emerge in the country blues World Is Turning with nods to J.J. Cale, another artist that liked his sound free and easy. The shimmering Rabbit is psychedelic nirvana, carrying the listener along with every floating note and lyric. Likewise, the closer Dawn Patrol soothes and calms, bringing to mind early career Israel Nash.
There’s so much to enjoy on EARTH TRIP. The songs manage to express both sadness and vulnerability, yet optimism is always close to the surface. However, the real winner is the telepathic understanding between Johnson’s vocals and guitar, coupled with Barry Walker’s subtle pedal steel. The combination of these subtleties presents a deeply melodic and calming listening experience. Highly recommended.
Review by Declan Culliton
Martha Fields Headed South Continental Record Services
An artist that, in normal times, divides her time between her native Texas and her adopted second home in the South of France, HEADED SOUTH was written and recorded by Martha Fields in France during lockdown. Self-produced, the finishing touches were applied by Sean Sullivan, who mixed the album at Butcher Shoppe Studios in Nashville.
Born into a family soaked in the music of Appalachia, Fields’ 2016 politically charged release SOUTHERN WHITE LIES, paid homage to the music of her childhood. It was essentially an unplugged affair, inspired by her childhood memories of fiddles, guitars and banjos accompanying numerous singers on the family front porch in Wayne County. DANCING SHADOWS, which followed two years later, returned to her core sound, which slides smoothly between country, blues and high energy rock & roll. That same template is applied to her latest recording.
Field’s is renowned for her thunderous live shows with her dynamic band of merry men. Those players are Manu Bertrand on dobro, banjo, mandolin, guitar, Urbain Lambert on guitar, Olivier Leclerc on violin, Serge Samyn on bass and fiddle and Denis Bielsa on drums. They combine to bring that high level energy and passion into the studio with HEADED SOUTH. The musical chemistry of players very much on the same page and supporting Fields’ gutsy vocals are showcased across the twelve tracks. A particular standout is the swinging, country meets rock and roll, Lavada’s Lounge, but she’s equally impressive on the more relaxed title track and the similarly paced Yellow Roses. As on her previous recordings, a few genres melt together on this album and Death Rattle and High Shelf Mama represent the bluesy aspect of her repertoire.
HEADED SOUTH mirrors precisely what Martha Fields is all about. A collection of musicians firing on all cylinders, fronted by an intense vocal execution, it further whets the appetite for a return to fun music like this in a live setting. Bring it on!
Review by Declan Culliton
K.C. Jones Queen Of The Inbetweens Free Dirt
This is the debut release from singer/songwriter and fiddler Kelli Jones, who also is a member of roots/Cajun bands Feufollet and T’Monde. For this album the singer moves between the elements of Cajun, country, indie, Appalachian folk and psychedelic music with ease and authority. It’s something that comes more naturally to a musician based in Lafayette, Louisiana, than it might in other more genre defined areas. She underlines this sentiment when she says that she had an obsession with Gene Clark’s No Other album, as well as some Janis Ian and a “little too much T-Rex.” Though like all her other influences that have merged into a vision that Jones makes her own.
She brought noted musician/producer Joel Savoy to helm the project, which was recorded in Savoy’s studio with some talented music from the locality to join her in the album’s creation. Chris Stafford on pedal steel and electric guitars, bassist Trey Boudreaux and to complete the rhythm section Jim Kolacek. They then created a rich “quilt of an album” as Jones describes it. She has recorded songs that are at times raw but with a confidence that allows for individual interpretation.
The album opens with a guitar riff that is both familiar and engaging. That track Beginnings And Ends is the perfect opener to the diversity displayed throughout. It has a strong feel of the 60s with the guitar, keyboard and vocal identity considering the often uncertain paths that life takes us on. It is followed by Heat Rises, the current single, which has some slow burning pedal steel to emphasise the lyrics hope for a spark from what may have be a a dying ember of a relationship. I’ve Got Time is about that feeling that there will always be time to do those things we promise ourselves and that we will eventually do. Again, the pedal steel is prominent in an understated way below the appealing electric guitar. Jones’ vocals are the emotional centre of the songs, with a certain vulnerability yet hidden strength. There are a number of harmony vocals throughout that add to the overall context and texture of the songs. Something on display through these ten self-written tales.
Overall, the album is affirmation of the broad palette that Jones and her team have chosen to place these songs in. A rewarding three quarters of an hour that hints at several possibilities for the future whilst, here and now, showing that Jones’ solo debut release is a strong opening statement that many should enjoy.
Review by Stephen Rapid.
Jon Byrd Me & Paul Self Release
A self-described “real country singer” who has brought these songs on this EP out in a stripped form that is justifiably perfect, with Byrd’s gut-string guitar and his notable tenor voice, backed only by the highly effective ambience of Paul Neihaus’ high lonesome pedal steel guitar.
These are songs full of life and character, from the story of Junior And Lloyd, who ran a business as bootleggers and their separate way of dealing with that life, its dangers and its money making possibilities. I’ll Be Her Only One and Why Must You Think Of Leaving offer differing perspectives on relationships. Neither exactly have happy endings and the steel guitar cries as much as the participants in the songs might. The former offers some kind of understanding of two being of the same kind of off-the-line walkers. The latter is about wanting to do one thing but having to do another, to make a move on.
The songs comprise a number of co-writes between Byrd and Shannon Wright (…Leaving) and Kevin Gordon (…Only One). The final song has an element of blues within its exhortation to come to someone who hopefully understands in J.J. Cale’s Dont Go To Strangers. The remaining songs is a cover of the Louvin Brothers’ Cash On The Barrelhead, where the judge places a fine on the culprit for his offence. Either the cash is placed where it should be or it’s thirty days in the can, as they don’t quite trust this particular offender to be around for too long. Niehaus’ steel on this track takes on a more 50’s upright steel feel which is ideally suited to the mood and era of the original recording.
These two fine musicians make a perfect partnership and there is much to enjoy on this short outing (under twenty minutes playing time) - but it is time well spent.
Review by Stephen Rapid.
Esquela A Sign From God Livestock
Call it roots rock or even cowpunk, but there’s no denying the energy that emanates from these grooves. Esquela is a band fronted by John “Chico” Finn who is the lead vocalist and chief songwriter in the band . Their latest release was recorded during the current pandemic and featured the musicians working remotely under the guidance of Eric “Roscoe” Ambel - no better man for the job. His credentials and feel for this music are evident from many productions he has overseen from his Evie’s Terrace home studio in Brooklyn. The songs were accumulated since the band’s last outing CANIS MAJOR was released back in 2015. Finn sent guitar and vocal recordings to Ambel to get the project off the blocks and the end results turned out to be what may be the band’s best effort to date. Everyone seems focused and happy to be making music. Finn shared the lead vocals throughout with Becca Frame and the two work well together, something that is doubtless the result of the time they have spent working in the studio and on the road together.
The opening song Not In My Backyard (Nimby), like many of the lyrics here, has a serious theme of wanting something to be changed, as long as it’s not happening near them. The song opens with Frame’s voice before Finn joins in. I can’t help but be reminded of Ireland’s The Golden Horde in the vocals, something of a second cousin to the Horde’s duet with Maria McKee on Friends In Time. As well as the catchy chorus there are some compelling guitar riffs to help it along. From there on the songs come thick and fast, all making the best use of the component parts to deliver a highly enjoyable album that rocks in all the right places. There is humour here as well, as in the worries that are prominent in not knowing how to deal with very First World Problems - broken sunglasses, stolen phones, not knowing your wi-fi password and so on. It makes a point but does so in a self-depreciating yet forceful way and ends with a little throwback reference to the Sex Postols. The rhythm section of bassist Keith Christopher and Mike Ricciardi are solid and synced throughout, which considering that they recorded separately is acknowledgement of their skills.
Kudos though must go to the collective guitar skills of Ambel, Brain Shafer and Matt Woodin, who kick up some noise throughout and bring electricity to these songs. There are other guest players here who all bring something to the show too. There’s the tale of a character in very shady Three Finger Joe “a deputy sheriff who ran the show in Ohio.” Or the oft-ask question of a troublesome personality that is framed by What’s Your Problem?, before deciding that enough is enough.
The final track takes a different approach, using a poem of Konstantin Simonov and music from Frame and Shafer to close the album in a more contemplative mood. It delivers an effective end to the album’s more up-tempo and animated performances. This is one of those albums that effortlessly convinces but the truth is it is usually born out of hard work and hard thinking. Esquela have made their announcement that they are back and they are again ready to rock.
Review by Stephen Rapid.
Emily Duff Razor Blade Smile Mr. Mudshow
Here’s another release that emanates from the New York, Brooklyn community. This is singer/songwriter Emily Duff’s latest album. The lady we have here is a veteran of the roots scene with her songs of hard times and tough love. Duff has some seventeen previous releases available from Bandcamp. But this album may well be the best place to start. Duff is a writer who is honest and forthright in her writing. There are a number of songs that have an immediate impact including the title track, Another Goodbye and Go Fast Don’t Die - pretty solid advice overall.
The project has nuances and light and shade throughout, from the accordion of Charlie Giordano (who also adds keyboards), used to set the mood for Feelin’ Alright, to the bluesy tone of Don’t Hang The Moon wherein she confides to a partner that “you never asked for nothin’ and nothin’ all I gave you.” The song is built around how expectations can set up something in a relationship that can never be reached. There is still a tenderness to this observation that allows the vulnerability in Duff’s voice to come through. Something that is at the heart of the message that anger and arguments should never be left to fester. Indeed, she sings with conviction in Angry To Bed noting that conflict is no way to leave bad feeling unresolved before attempting to sleep. There is some endearing electric 12 string guitar in the song’s make-up too. That brings us to the production host, who is non-other than Eric “Roscoe” Ambel and who again brings the best out of the artist and songs. It was recorded in Brooklyn, New York City with Keith Christopher, Phil Cimino - the bedrock rhythm section. There are pedal steel contributions from Cody Nilsen and additional vocals from Ambel and Mary Lee Kortes.
I have seen comparisons to Lucinda Williams but that really is in the fact that they both know their own minds and how they want their music to be heard. Duff is likely never going to get the breaks that she, like many other artists, deserve. That is not down to lack of quality, but rather that many artists never get enough exposure, (if they even want it), to have a chance to reach a wider audience. I get the feeling that at this point in her career Duff is happy being able to put out the albums that she wants to without supervision or interference.
The album ends with a country-esque ballad Nicotine & Waiting that delivers one of the most heartfelt vocal performances on the album. The accordion and pedal steel are perfectly poised to allow the lyrical message of how hanging around and smoking are not perhaps the best ways to wait for the homecoming of a lover, while noting that it is often what we don’t say to each other that tells the underlying story. Emily Duff has heart and soul, can write and sing with the best of them and deserves your consideration and I’m sure she’d be happy to see you regardless of how you might interpret her smile and welcome.
Review by Stephen Rapid.