John R. Miller Depreciated Rounder
It has taken John R. Miller far longer than it should have to get his music directed towards a wide audience. Quitting school early and spending fifteen years on the road as a bass player for The Hackensaw Boys, J.P. Harris and Sierra Ferrell, together with drinking to excess, his life was spiralling out of control. Relocating to Nashville in 2017, kicking the bottle and concentrating on writing and performing his own material, has given him a new lease of life and DEPRECIATED is the upshot of those life changing adjustments.
Like so many artists that eventually find their sweet spot in ‘real’ country music, Miller served his apprenticeship fronting a punk band, in his case, at the ripe age of 14 years old. He then progressed to street busking before being hired as a touring bass player, before finally taking control as a recording artist in his own right.
He made an immediate impact on Lonesome Highway at Americana Fest in 2019, his performance leaving me scratching my head as to how this guy was not signed up to a label and recording. It was therefore with much anticipation that I learned that the West Virginian had packed his bags for Nashville, was signed to Rounder Records and that his debut album was on the way.
Well, it has arrived and it more than lives up to expectations. The album lands somewhere between the laid-back country bluesy coolness of J.J. Cale (Borrowed Time, Looking Over My Shoulder), the swampy story telling of Tony Joe White (Motors Fried) and the classic songwriting of Guy Clark (Back and Forth). The songs read like diary entries from Miller’s exploits, both physical and emotional, as he drifted through life.
His punk sensibilities of former days surface both lyrically and sonically on Old Dance Floor. It’s a raw and urgent guitar driven song delivered with a grainy lived-in vocal that had me hitting the repeat button on first play. The breakup of a long-term relationship is addressed on the broody Shenandoah Shakedown, painting evocative scenes of breakdown and chaos.
Miller does not put a foot wrong on DEPRECIATED. It’s both a personal triumph and the emergence of an artist that you’ll hopefully be hearing a lot more from in the coming years. Highly recommended.
Review by Declan Culliton
Vincent Neil Emerson Self-Titled La Honda / Thirty Tigers
“It took a guy from Canada bringing me on tour for people to actually start paying attention. Before that it was a grind like anything else just trying to make a living.”
So says Vincent Neil Emerson, a twenty - something East Texan of Choctaw-Apache descent, commenting on his self-titled album, which follows his 2019 debut album FRIED CHICKEN and EVIL WOMEN (great title!).
The Canadian referred to is Colter Wall, who invited Emerson to open for him on tour. That exposure, together with support slots for Charley Crockett and Turnpike Troubadours, elevated Emerson from unknown status to ‘one to watch’. Reinforcing that potential was Rodney Crowell’s enthusiasm and readiness to produce this album. No doubt he flagged Emerson as a student of his own music and the styling of his comrades of yesteryear, Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark.
Emerson, in a similar vein to Colter Wall, is the possessor of mature voice and road weary stories that belie his years. The material confronts a broad spectrum of topics and memories. He kicks off the album with one of those narratives, the tale of the road whacked artist, possibly autobiographical, heading home in Texas Moon. The stoty of a nomadic alcoholic, longing for the simple pleasures of home, is disclosed on Rippin’ Wild. He confronts his father’s suicide and the subsequent family collateral damage on the sombre Learnin’ To Drown. The displacement by the government of his ancestors from their land in the 1960’s is detailed in The Ballad of the Choctaw-Apache.
The ten songs on the album grapple between light and darkness and the powerful songwriting is matched by Emerson’s articulation, which displays a frankness and self-assurance that draws the listener in to each and every song. The musicianship, performed by session players engaged by Rodney Crowell, is also thrilling, complementing the songs with raging and delicate fiddles and acoustic guitars to match the songs’ subject matter.
A glimpse of the unquestionable talent of Vincent Neil Emerson, this suite of songs should be a career launching pad for an artist proudly following in the footsteps of his revered Texan songwriting legends.
Review by Declan Culliton
John Hiatt and The Jerry Douglas Band Leftover Feelings New West
The birthplace of The Nashville Sound, as well as the room where Elvis Presley, Waylon Jennings, Dolly Parton, the Everly Brothers, Chet Atkins and numerous others recorded, RCA Studio B was the chosen location for this collaboration between John Hiatt, one of the most revered songwriters of the past five decades and the equally celebrated multi-instrumentalist Jerry Douglas. It’s a marriage that very nearly did not happen. A tornado which struck Nashville weeks prior to the scheduled date for the recording was followed shortly afterwards by the arrival of Covid-19, leaving their plans in disarray.
Fortunately, in October 2020, they were able to schedule four days at the studio and the couple, together with The Jerry Douglas Band, working to a tight timeline, recorded the eleven tracks that feature on LEFTOVER FEELINGS. Surprisingly, despite releasing over thirty studio albums, it was Hiatt’s first visit to Studio B, which still has an ‘x’ taped on the floor where Elvis Presley, who had a huge influence on teenage John Hiatt, used to position himself while being recorded.
The album kicks off with the snappy Long Black Electric Cadillac, with Hiatt’s weather-beaten vocals in front of, as you would expect, quality playing from Douglas and his band. The players consisted of Mike Seal on guitars, Daniel Kimbro on bass, Christian Sedelmyer on strings, Carmella Ramsey on backing vocals and Douglas on various stringed instruments.
Following the environmentally friendly titled up-tempo opener, things are generally taken at a more relaxed pace, with Hiatt providing the lyrics and giving Douglas a free hand to bring those words and stories to life. In fact, only Keen Rambler matches the tempo of the opening track.
Some of those songs visit dark moments and memories for Hiatt. He recalls the suicide of his older brother, at the age of twenty-one, on the touching Light of The Burning Son. It’s a heartfelt remembrance of the tragedy and its devastation on the family. It’s also the first time Hiatt has revisited the subject in his writing. As you might expect, the musical arrangement that supports the vocals are fittingly sympathetic. His former drinking and drugging days are evoked on the bluesy Mississippi Phone Booth. He dips into his back catalogue on the electric blues toe tapper Little Goodnight and All The Lilacs In Ohio, which previously was cut on his 2001 album THE TIKI BAR IS OPEN, gets a bluegrass makeover. Other notable inclusions are the stripped back Buddy Boy which features a gorgeous string arrangement and the rootsy nostalgic Sweet Dreams, which closes the album, bringing to mind the John Prine penned Glory Of True Love.
LEFTOVER FEELINGS follows Hiatt’s terrific 2018 release THE ECLIPSE SESSIONS and is a pointer to yet another senior statesman in the industry that has no intention of drawing the curtains on a career that has gifted us with so much. Hallelujah for that!
Review by Declan Culliton
Tylor & The Train Robbers Non-Typical Find Self Release
Having lost their touring lifeline which generated over two hundred shows a year, Boise, ID roots band Tylor & The Train Robbers put their time in lockdown to good use. Their third album NON - TYPICAL FIND was written and recorded during this period and they also continued to play live through their regular virtual shows on the Patreon platform.
Having self-produced their first two albums, they reached out to Cody Braun of Reckless Kelly to do the honors on this occasion. It seemed a shrewd choice, given the similarities both in structure and sound of both bands. Reckless Kelly is also a tight, rockin’ roots band, constantly on the road and fronted by brothers Cody and Willy Braun. Tylor & The Train Robbers are also very much a family band, originally formed by Tylor Ketchum and his brother Jason Bushman. Another brother Tommy subsequently joined and to complete the family involvement, Tylor married Jennifer Pisano, the daughter of the band’s guitar player Johnny ‘Shoes’ Pisano, effectively elevating ‘Shoes’ to a family member. While not officially a band member, Jennifer adds backing vocals on the album.
Without the option of road testing the songs, they entered the studio with the material fully written. Under the watchful eye of Cody Braun, who adds fiddle and mandolin on the album, the songs were constructed by the family members, with the addition of a few guest musicians who played pedal steel, banjo and cello.
The album features eleven lyric driven roots songs, mostly written by Ketchum, with subject matter ranging from human remains being discovered by a friend while out hunting (Non-Typical Find) to a tender ode to his wife (Jenny Lynn). They’re also equally at home with the laid-back country numbers (Lemonade, These Eyes) as they are with the foot heavier on the pedals on the rockier ones (This Town, Staring Down The North).
All in all, the album delivers an open-ended collection of songs that sit very comfortably alongside each other.
Review by Declan Culliton
Tony Joe White Smoke From The Chimney Easy Eye
Tony Joe White, or The Swamp Fox, as he was affectionately nicknamed, passed away in 2018, leaving behind a back catalogue that consisted of almost thirty albums. His last studio recording, BAD MOUTHIN’ was released around the time of his passing and was considered to be the final chapter of story songs from the prolific singer songwriter. Few would have anticipated the emergence of this posthumous album three years later.
White’s son Jody, discovered a library of songs on numerous tapes recorded by his father over the years. The songs that were to become SMOKE FROM THE CHIMNEY were collected on four reels, and given that they were written at various stages of his career, it may be that White intended them to feature on an album at some stage. Jody, quite innocently, sent the track Smoke From The Chimney to long-time friend Dan Auerbach, who immediately reached out for more material. The end result is this exceptional recording.
Targeted in his early career by his label Monument Records as an Elvis lookalike and soundalike, much of his output at that time was cover versions and middle of the road country soul singles. However, his discovery of The Maestro Boomerang Wah pedal, brought a totally new dimension to his core sound, leading to his christening as the ‘godfather of swamp rock’.
Auerbach has managed to create a seamless transition from White’s acoustic recordings to the full-blown sound on the album. Gathering the cream of Memphis and Nashville session players around him, he has given some of the songs the ‘swamp’ treatment and others a more country soul flavour.
Recorded at Easy Eye Sound in Nashville, the players that Auerbach gathered included White’s fellow Louisiana born Billy Sandford on guitar and Memphis big hitters Bobby Wood (keyboards) and Gene ‘Bubba’ Chrisman (drums).
The title track gets a soulful Memphis makeover, complete with horn section. Boot Money and Scary Stories are unadulterated Louisiana blues stomps and Bubba Jones is a nod in the direction of Bobby Gentry, an artist that hugely influenced White’s story telling songwriting. The dreamy love song Del Rio, You’re Making Me Cry showcases Billy Sanford’s acoustic guitar skills, alongside Paul Franklin’s ghostly pedal steel guitar. Although White described his music as ‘more a soul sound than anything else, I certainly hope so, because I sure hate country and western’, his recordings included some classic country rock. Auerbach acknowledges this with his breath-taking treatment of Someone Is Crying, which brings to mind Neil Young’s epic Pocahontas, before signing off with the sweeping ballad Billy.
Alongside being a technical triumph and a tribute to an avant - garde artist, SMOKE FROM THE CHIMNEY is musical chemistry which does justice to a wonderful writer and vocalist.
Review by Declan Culliton
The Hello Darlins Go By Feel Self Release
Canadian musical collective The Hello Darlins is the coming together of a number of Alberta based session players. Grown out of a two-piece band featuring vocalist Candace Lacina and keyboard player Mike Little, the band have recorded their debut album titled GO BY FEEL. A Juno nominated songwriter, Candace Lacina has also provided backing vocals for a number recordings from artists such as Shania Twain and Charlie Major. Mike Little has enjoyed an equally impressive musical career, playing keyboards with B.B. King, Long John Baldry and The Rankin Family, to name but a few.
For this album, they invited a number of players from a range of musical backgrounds into the studio. The impressive list of musicians includes Dave and Joey Landreth (The Bros.Landreth), Murray Pulver (Crash Test Dummies), Russell Broom (Jann Arden), Clayton Bellamy (The Road Hammers), Matt Andersen (Buddy Guy, Little Feat, Greg Allman), Russell Broom (Ian Tyson, Jann Arden) and finally renowned fiddle player and instructor Shane Guse.
Very much targeting the Americana market, the eleven tracks on the album offer the listener an amalgam of roots, bluegrass, country and gospel, with all three often featuring on an individual track. Ballads such as Aberdeen and Prayer For A Sparrow are typical examples, both benefiting from imposing harmony vocals. They do let their hair down on the rousing Mountain Time and Smokin’ Gun but elsewhere the emphasis is directed towards more slow rolling and less muscular grooves on the radio friendly Lonely In Las Vegas and Still Waters.
The instrumentation and vocals are of the highest standard throughout, not surprising given the pedigree of the players. What began as a casual meeting of musical minds for Candace Lacina and Mike Little has developed into a very marketable production that ticks all the boxes for a commercial breakthrough. Watch this space.
Review by Declan Culliton
Dean Owens – The Desert Trilogy EP’s – Vol.2 & 3. Sand & Blood/Ghosts Songboy
SINNER’S SHRINE, the forthcoming album by Edinburgh’s Dean Owens, is scheduled for release later this year. The recording sessions for the album took place at WaveLab Studios in Tucson, Arizona, where Dean was joined in the studio by Tex-Mex indies Joey Burns and John Convertino of Calexico fame and other notables.
THE DESERT TRILOGY EP’s Vol.1,2 and 3 include songs from the sessions for that album, together with songs recorded remotely with John Convertino and other guest players. Each volume also features a track which will be included on the forthcoming album. We reviewed Vol.1, THE BURNING HEART, on its release back in March of this year and it is followed by two equally impressive recordings to complete the trilogy.
Land of the Hummingbird opens the second volume and is a co-write with another desert dweller, Gabriel Sullivan (Giant Sand, XIXA). It also features the stunning vocals of Guatemalan singer songwriter Gaby Moreno, whose atmospheric contribution, sung in Spanish, was recorded from her home in New York. She Was a Raven, which bookends this volume, is an alternative take on the same song which, on this occasion, gets a less Tex-Mex and a more rock - fused treatment. Continuing on the border and desert themed sonics and inspired by a character from a novel, Dolina, with its lush and rich instrumentation, practically transfers the scorching sun and sands into your living room.
Ashes And Dust could be the closing song on a Spaghetti Western movie as the credits roll after the final bloodshot battle. It touches on darkness and light, life and death, danger and chaos. A truly international endeavour, it was recorded by Dean in Pencaitland, Scotland with contributions from El Paso, (John Convertino - drums), Tucson (Naim Amor - guitars) and Berlin (Martin Wenk - trumpet).
GHOSTS, the final volume, offers four more tales of longing, escapism and the spirits that subsist along the desert’s borders. The Hopeless Ghosts, is a standout track, visiting lost love, missed opportunities and a drifting unsettled existence. Contributions from Jacob Valenzuela on trumpet and Paul Niehaus on pedal steel elevate the song to another level and backing vocals are courtesy of Grant-Lee Phillips. The passage of time, as witnessed by a ninety-three-year-old barber, Angel Degadillo, is the backdrop to Mother Road. With his barber shop located in the town of Seligman, Arizona on Route 66, his life story is considered and thoughtfully recounted. Closer to home and delivered acoustically is Even When I’m Gone. It features vocals, nylon string guitar and little else but Dean whistling. It’s a simple love song which contemplates mortality and relationships that live on beyond our passing. Unrelated but with a similar theme of dying, GHOSTS closes with The End. A grisly murder ballad, it details the final thoughts of the protagonist as he awaits his final and fatal retribution.
Dean Owens continues to be one of the most interesting and innovative artists in Americana circles residing outside America. Despite a hefty workload and output both as a solo artist and the numerous collaborations he is involved in, the quality never suffers. It’s fair to say that THE DESERT TRILOGY EPs equal his most impressive work to date and are a pointer to what we can expect on the release of SINNER’S SHINE later in the year. To repeat and expand on my observation in the review of Vol.1, the artwork and packaging are by far the most striking of any album I’ve laid my hands on this year. Hats off to all involved in this splendid project.
Review by Declan Culliton
Peter Bruntnell Journey To The Sun Domestico
Written and recorded at his home in Devon, JOURNEY TO THE SUN is very much a product of enforced confinement, from the artist described by Rolling Stone as “one of England's best kept musical secrets”. To complete the ‘hands on’ package, the majority of the instruments were played by Peter Bruntnell, with only some keyboards added by mastering engineer Peter Linnane, and pedal steel on Dharma Liar, courtesy of his often-touring player and Wynntown Marshals’ member, Iain Sloan.
With time on his hands in the absence of live shows, some degree of musical experimentation took hold, in particular the acquisition by Bruntnell of a new synthesizer and also a bouzouki, both of which feature on the recording. It’s not the first time that he has used synthesizer, his 2011 album BLACK MOUNTAIN U.F.O. was equally exploratory, with the use of synths and strings. He puts his new toys to good effect on the album, particularly on the two instrumentals The Antwerp Effect and Moon Committee.
Saying that, although tracks such as You’d Make A Great Widow and Lucifer Morning Star are laced with synch overtones, the album remains vintage Bruntnell. Quite a dark sentiment often pervades, covering the emotional baggage and the social environment that was at large during the time of the songs’ conception.To that end the album is somewhat more introspective than his excellent 2019 release KING OF MADRID.
The gentle opener Dandelion, with its minimalist approach, sounds and reads like a preface for what is to follow. It hints at the album’s direction, touching on mortality, anxiety and remorse. The aforementioned You’d Make A Great Widow is simply a blast. A Syd Barrett type sixty second configured intro merges into close on six minutes of hook laden power pop that soothes like a warm summer breeze. He picks the pace up somewhat on Runaway Car which offers a rockier edge than much of the album’s material. The album’s delicate closer Mutha reflects on the importance of living in the moment, the passage of time and cherishing the ones we love.
A stunning showcase, JOURNEY TO THE SUN more than mirrors the lofty heights of KING OF MADRID, which was a worthy recipient of album of the year at Lonesome Highway in 2019. More restrained and brooding than its predecessor, it’s very much an album of its time and another ‘must have’ Bruntnell album for any serious collector of fine music.
Review by Declan Culliton
Joana Serrat Hardcore From The Heart Loose
Released in 2017, DRIPPING SPRINGS found Catalan artist Joana Serrat expanding her musical horizons. The album was named after the small town in Texas, close to where it was recorded under the watchful eye of Israel Nash, whose production skills and experimentation gave the recording a gloriously layered sound. Joana has stuck with a parallel musical template on HARDCORE FROM THE HEART and the end result is equally impressive.
She returned once more to Texas for the recording. On this occasion the location was Redwood Studio in Denton, which is run by Midlake band members McKenzie Smith and Joey McClellan, who both feature on the album, playing guitars and drums respectively. Other musicians that contributed are Aaron McClellan on bass, Jesse Chandler on keys and Eric Swanson on pedal steel. Joana’s brother, Toni Serrat, also makes an appearance on drums. Joana chose Grammy winner Ted Young to oversee production. Young has worked with Israel Nash for a number of years and his previous employers include Kurt Vile, The Rolling Stones, The Gaslight Anthem and Sonic Youth.
Collectively they combine flawlessly to breathe life into Joana’s lush soaring vocals and deeply felt lyrics. Those lyrics often reveal quite painful and personal retrospections of unfulfilled promises and infidelities. Challenging issues they may be, but the songs are delivered joyously and with no small amount of positivity. They range from lightly rock tinged anthems (Easy, Pictures) to excursions into more chilled introspective territory (Hotel Room, Summer Never Ends). The highlight of the ten tracks for this writer is the spellbinding How To Make You Love Me. An intoxicatingly layered sonic voyage, it simply bombards the senses. Not far behind in the quality stakes is the similarity bewitching Demons.
The aforementioned Pictures, already released as a single, advocates living in the moment without distraction from minor issues. It’s sage advice and a theme that resurfaces on an album by an artist who seems to grow in maturity, both as a writer and vocalist, on each subsequent recording. Well worth your investigation.
Review by Declan Culliton