Rick Fines Solar Powered Too Self Release
New to us in Lonesome Highway, Juno nominated singer-songwriter Rick Fines has been spreading the gospel of folk blues throughout his native Ontario and further afield for thirty years. With his trademark gnarled vocals reminiscent of a young John Hiatt, this latest album was recorded in a diy set up of solar panels and golf cart batteries in a little cabin in the North Kawartha woods, not far from his Peterborough home. Six of the tracks were retained in their raw original state, while Fines and co-producer Alec Fraser took the remaining six back to the studio and added further instrumentation and vocals courtesy of various friends who are well-known on the Toronto music scene.
Once heard never forgotten, the lonesome call of the loon is the inspiration for the exquisitely executed One Lone Loon, a slow ballad of heartache accompanied by some searing harmonising harmonica playing from Roly Platt and Jimmy Bowskill on pedal steel. Laundry on the Line is equally affecting, where Fines shows empathy for both parties in the tale of a wife who finds the courage to walk out of a marriage after many years of unfulfillment. Further examples of Fines’ songwriting skills are evident in the country blues of Below the Surface where again no embellishments are needed beyond his vocals and guitar. Utilising the downtime of lockdown, Fines took the opportunity to do some co-writing with the likes of Matt Andersen, Grainne Ryan and PJ Thomas. The only cover song is a full band tex mex flavoured rendition of Jesse Winchester’s That’s What Makes You Strong. Fundamental Nature was appropriately recorded in the wood with just vocals, resonator guitar and Fines foot tapping as he celebrates nature from the ‘hummingbird buzzing in my ear’ to the cuckoo who is ‘joyful, intimate and boundless’.
Special mention must be made of the cover artwork (crows on a high nelly bike!) by Stevi Kittleson. Check it out.
Review by Eilis Boland
John Shipe The Beast Is Back Involushun
To fully appreciate this impressive double album from Oregon’s John Shipe, you need to be aware of his backstory: he has spent the last ten years away from the music business while coming to terms with alcoholism. Now, don’t run a mile having heard this … while at times it is not an easy listen, it is certainly a rewarding one. And, of course, there is more to the man than just this one fact, as many of the songs here demonstrate. Ranging across the gamut of Americana musically, the predominant sound is folk rock meets country. Split into two halves entitled ‘Hagiography’ and ‘Involution’ (which sent me scurrying to the dictionary!) several of the eighteen songs deal with the guilt of the pain caused to his loved ones during his addiction.
That pain is especially palpable on Frozen, stripped back to just Shipe’s vocals and acoustic guitar: ‘here we are, nowhere to go, can’t give, can’t receive’, essentially describing his relationship with his wife during the lowest point. My Daughter, My Love is equally visceral in relaying the gulf that has arisen between him and his daughter, who has ‘put up a wall’ between them. ‘I pulled you into this world with my own two hands’, he tells her over a simple piano accompaniment and echoey strings, ‘but I’m stronger and can wait longer than you can know’. Cosmic Repo Blues is a strident country blues in which he details how he is paying the price for past demeanours, with unsettling steel slide guitar and a long discordant outro emphasising the mood.
Redemption is approaching in Involution and Just A Man, where past failings are being acknowledged and self acceptance is creeping in. The outstanding ballad Love Ain’t Easy is a moving thank you to his wife for sticking with him throughout, and is also notable for the harmony vocals of jazz singer Halle Loren and the pedal steel of Bryan Daste.
Thankfully, Shipe hasn’t lost his social conscience during these tough years, as demonstrated in Thoughts and Prayers (a critique of the hypocrisy and platitudes offered by politicians as a response to gun violence) and J. Edgar Hoover. Joined by a large band of accomplished musicians on bass, percussion, horns, organ, guitars and backing vocals and all ably produced by Tyler Fortier, this is a record well worth checking out.
Review by Eilis Boland
Hannah Juanita Hardliner Self-Release
A throwback to a bygone era, the American Legion Post 82 on Gallatin Pike, Nashville, has proved to be an inspirational venue for artists, both local and visiting from overseas, who love their country old timey and traditional. Hannah Juanita was raised less than two hundred miles from Nashville in Chattanooga, but was living in Mount Rainer in Washington State, prior to packing her suitcases and moving to Music City. The relocation was fuelled by the lure of the Honky Tonk Tuesday Nights at that now legendary venue, together with her resolution to forge a career as a performer and recording artist.
As the album title implies, Juanita is no wallflower, far from it. Song titles such as Grudge To The Grave, Our Love Is Done and I’m Gonna Leave You suggest a lady with a lot to get off her chest and in a hurry to do so. She’s blessed with a voice that’s tailor made for old school country, it is honey coated and twangy in equal doses but also has a hint of menace, giving the ambience of an ice queen rather than the sweet girl next door.
There’s more than a nod to Loretta Lynn on the lively opener Call Yourself My Man and equally on the aforementioned two stepping Our Love Is Done. Horns and accordion grace the border influenced Love Like Yours and she confesses to a less than fruitful romantic same sex rendezvous on Green Eyes. She looks over her shoulder on the autobiographical swinger Ramblin’ Gal, before signing off with the stripped back acoustic Hard Hearted Woman.
Juanita co-produced the album alongside fellow honky tonker Mose Wilson and Chris Weisbecker and called on some top players to contribute. Wilson, coupled with production duties, plays guitar and bass, Ryan Elwell (Soccer Mommy, Pat Reedy) is on drums and pedal steel players Neil Jones (American Aquarium) and Daniel Haymore both feature.
HARDLINER is essentially a ‘breaking free’ and re-birth collection of country songs. Wearing her heart on her sleeve, Juanita banishes the demons of bad relationships and poor life choices as she settles into a new beginning. She’s established herself as a member of the growing community of artists in Nashville keeping real country music alive and kicking. Check out her shows at American Legion Post 82 and other honky tonk bars on your next trip to Music City, I know I will. In the meantime, feast your ears on this fine batch of country songs.
Review by Declan Culliton
Olivia Harms Rhinestone Cowgirl Self-Release
Country singer and songwriter Olivia Harms may be a new name to readers, but they would, no doubt, be familiar with her mother, the decorated artist Joni Harms. Joni released fourteen albums between 1985 and 2016, including the 2014 release OREGON TO IRELAND, which was recorded with The Sheerin Family Band in Moate, Co. Westmeath.
Born on a farm in Canby, Oregon, Olivia Harms exposure from childhood to both the agricultural way of life, coupled with accompanying her mother to numerous shows, has given her a clear vision of the career paths available to her.
She followed in the family’s farming tradition by earning a bachelor’s degree in agricultural business management from Oregon State University, in parallel with her career as a singer songwriter. On the strength of her second album RHINESTONE COWGIRL, it’s fair to say that she can leave the degree certificate in the picture frame and put a career in agriculture on hold.
Given her upbringing, it’s no surprise to learn that she was gifted with her first guitar at the age of six and was piecing together her own songs from an early age. She recorded her debut album in Nashville at the age of sixteen and in 2019 released an album of cover songs with her mother, titled OUR FAVOURITES. Olivia started working on this new album in the same year, choosing Nashville based songwriter and producer D. Scott Miller to handle the production duties. Choosing ten songs from her extensive catalogue, they overcame two schedule postponements due to Covid-19, to eventually complete the recording in May 2020.
No shrinking violet, the lyrics throughout point towards an individual very much in control and more than able to fight her own corner. She kicks off with the sassy Hey There Cowboy, calling the shots on a possible suitor. She continues on the ‘man trail’ on the following track Neon Blue. Laced with stinging pedal steel and guitar breaks, it’s the type of song that early career Carlene Carter topped the charts with.
The album’s high point is I Don’t Need You (But I Want You). It’s simply gorgeous, a classic country love ballad, bringing to mind the musical direction Ashley Munroe was locked into on her standout album THE ROSE. Bakersfield could have been a mite fawning with its Buck and Haggard namechecks, but she rises above that with clever lyrics and a killer melody. Aching pedal steel and fiddles enrich Just Like Yesterday, a song that could have been specifically written for George Jones to record back in the day. She enters Glen Campbell territory on the slick breakup song Goodbye. Not content with leaving behind sunken and unfulfilled dreams, the song documents the determination of its protagonist - possibly autobiographical - to succeed in her chosen career despite the lack of support from an ex- boyfriend.
Regular readers of Lonesome Highway will be aware of our devotion to what we consider to be genuine country music, alongside our aversion to what is currently churned out on mainstream country radio stations. RHINESTONE COWGIRL ticks the former box with flying colours and surely, given radio play, would offer listeners a gateway to the world of genuine country music, rather than the synthesiser and drum machine driven sounds, currently masquerading as country on the airwaves.
All in all, this album delivers all the key elements of traditional country, while also presenting a modern slant of the genre. Weeping pedal steel guitar and blazing fiddles do impress throughout, but the real winner are Olivia’s crystalline vocals that dip, soar and quiver in all the right places, on a batch of extremely well written songs. Don’t just take my word for it, track down a copy yourself. You won’t be disappointed.
Review by Declan Culliton
The Lucky Ones Self-Titled Self Release
Whilst I can’t claim any sort of deep knowledge of bluegrass and old time music, on occasion an album comes onto my radar and hits the target. This is true of the debut release of the Canadian band The Lucky Ones. They are based in the Yukon area and play acoustic music with an obvious energy and conviction. The five piece are led by vocalist and guitarist JD McCallen. He is joined in the vocal department by fellow guitarists Ian Smith and Ryan James West. West is also the band’s mandolinist. Then Kieran Poile plays fiddle and Jerome Belanger is the double bassist. There are also some guests on vocal and additional piano. Collectively they are credited with writing all of the material here and while it is neither unique in theme or style, they manage a freshness whilst easily fitting into the overall genre patterns.
The opening song Fool’s Gold immediately gets the feet tapping and shows that here is a set of players who mean business. Waiting On A Paycheque makes me think that it could have easily been a track on the O Brother soundtrack. It is a tale that elaborates on the plight of the man waiting for his next work payment to arrive, and how he needs to survive and thrive till that happens. There is a historic feel to the songs. The Old 98 has a similar theme of cash on the bar for every round requested from a hard-worn miner still working at the titular mine. There is deeper thoughtfulness in Everybody Dance, where the sense of relationships seems tentative and also tender.
Lifestyles are at the heart of Since The Farm Got Sold and how generations of workers on the land can deal with a multitude of problems placed in their path to prevent use of their land. The melody here is very reminiscent of a number of songs but it powers along at a pace. Softer and simpler is the approach taken in Wish, where the melancholic and desperate theme is of longing and regret and features a striking vocal from McCallen. More upbeat in tempo if not mood is evidenced in Drunken Goodnight.
The music draws on history and tradition and is steeped in landscape, community and a strong sense of family. There is then also the factor that being a band from the Yukon means a certain isolation and independence. Just getting to play a gig out of the area means a drive of several hours. But there are compensations and, doubtless, the comradeship within the band counts for a lot, as does the locality and the support the band receive from it. But again this music has now a universality that means it is as readily accessible and understandable here in Ireland as it is in Canada, Czechoslovakia or Norway. It also comes in a well designed sleeve which is indicative of the commitment that they have to their music.
Review by Stephen Rapid
John McTigue III It’s About Time Mc3
Seasoned session players are a talented bunch who are often playing in a variety of styles to suit the particular artist that they are accompanying. So it’s no surprise that drummer McTigue III does that here on this album released under his own name. He has though, more often than not, been associated with county and Americana performers. The list on his website of those he has played with is testament to his talent and appeal. Now here with IT’S ABOUT TIME he displays that diversity on a selection of tracks, some with guest vocalists, others instrumental. The album opens with Deep Ellum Blues, a song written by Joe and Bob Shelton, and one that features the vocals of one of the more under-appreciated artist living in Nashville, namely Greg Garing, whose tenure there goes back to the very early days of the resurgence of Lower Broadway. Garing also sings on his co-written song Store Bought Liquor. His voice is as distinctive as ever and steeped in ageless honky-tonk, authentic country and rockabilly. It sounds like it could have been recorded back in the late 50’s. Garing’s final vocal is on the classic Ashes Of Love, his delivery emphasising the true heartache of the song.
The producers of this varied collection are McTigue and Kenny Vaughan, both masters of their chosen instruments who also have an understanding of how to add authenticity to their production. The other guest vocalist is the equally vital Tim Carroll. He sings and plays guitar on his two self-written contributions, Keeping Time and Talking to God. The former has a blues/rock sound while the latter is a full-on punky workout that rocks out hard by the end. Very different to Garing’s contributions but equally worth their place here on this release.
From then on it’s about the mood and attitude of the instrumental from Stockholm written by the two producers and sounding like its missing from the soundtrack of a 60’s spy drama. It is one of four tracks that Vaughan plays guitar on. The others are the tracks that feature Greg Garing. These alone show the versatility of his playing. Starbuck (Buckaroo) is an obvious tribute to Buck Owens’ guitarist, Don Rich. Though the guitarist on the track is uncredited, it sounds very much like Vaughan. Luceat Lux Vestra is a McTigue written piece that is something of a showpiece for his undoubted percussion mastery. Billy Contreras adds multiple violins into the rhythmic platform. The version of Chopin’s Étude No 4 is subtle and understated and highlights Contreras again but this time on mandolin. String Quartet No. 3 written again by McTigue features the Tosca String Quartet and it has the feel of a film score contribution and shows that McTigue has the ability to step out behind the drum kit and to orchestrate something that is quite evocative. The other song is The Whale Song, a co-write between McTigue and Ron Blakley. It’s built into a rhythmic pattern and then layered with Blakely’s pedal steel guitar, though here the instrument is played in a more atmospheric style which conjures up effectively the large marine mammal moving through the sea and waves.
This may be too diverse an album to attract wide mainstream attention but it is undoubtedly an interesting and rewarding set of songs and far more wide-ranging than one might expect from a musician more widely know for his sideman skills. But it’s also perhaps about time that he made this individual statement and it is in one worth giving the space to be listened to.
Review by Stephen Rapid
Jesse Brewster The Lonely Pines Crooked Prairie
Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Jesse Brewster has been making music since his debut album appeared back in 2004. He is a very talented multi-instrumentalist who also has many side projects and interests, including music producer and teacher. This latest release follows on from The Simpleness Of Things, an EP that surfaced in 2018, and these ten excellent songs reflect a Roots sound with a leaning towards mid-tempo arrangements, full of sweet melody and atmospheric playing.
Opening track, Let’s Run Away, kicks everything off with a bright dynamic sound and a plea to strike out, into the unknown, until the shimmering images of the coast appear in the distance. Kicking and Screaming has a similar theme and the telling lyric ‘Got to go where we’re not wanted, to find where we belong.’ So, life on the road in one sense, but balanced by the message in other songs, such as the feeling of family and surviving the stormy weather in Southern, a slow acoustic ballad, with Close To Home also highlighting that feeling of belonging and bonding together.
Another song, So Much Good Right Here, has a bluesy groove and a message not to take anything for granted. The slow waltz of Bitter Pill looks at a former lover and her new life, having moved on and leaving a sense of frustration with the lover that is left behind. Equally, No One To Blame, is an easy melody that has an anxious partner feeling down on his luck, waiting for a positive sign.
The ideal of a dream lover is explored in Woman In My Mind; ‘She’s the one that I’m hoping I never find, She’d never be that perfect woman in my mind.’ The song, Follow It Down, looks at the search for creativity and is a more commercial sound that examines the tricks that the mind can play on the writing process. The final track, Amber Kinney, is a ballad that highlights marital abuse and the need for escape, with some superb violin and mandolin leading the haunting melody.
Jesse Brewster is a very expressive singer-songwriter and his warm vocal tone is perfectly in tune with these well-crafted songs about living through the vagaries of life and love. A very enjoyable thirty-five minutes of your time.
Review by Paul McGee
John Smith The Fray Thirty Tigers
English Folk music often gets a bad press as being outdated and irrelevant in the modern world, but quality music always finds a way to surface. Gone are the days of suitably bearded poets in heavy woollen jumpers, making ‘serious’ music in meaningful ways, across the damp back rooms of our cities. Once society moved into the ‘me-culture’ - deep introspection had no place at the table set for hedonistic pleasure. However, the times in which we now live have brought with them the deep need for renewed connection and community.
This is a very soulful and heartfelt release from an artist who knows all about life as a travelling minstrel. John Smith is a singer-songwriter and guitar player of some serious talent and has trodden many stages since his debut album appeared back in 2006. Since then, his reputation has grown to the point where he is considered as one of the brightest lights on the circuit and until the Covid lockdown, regularly in demand. Here, during long days of sitting home, Smith has created an album that shines perspective on life and love, the need to reach out for empathy and understanding and to hold out for what is real. Produced by Sam Lakeman, who also adds percussion, and calling on the talents of Jason Rebello (piano), Marcus Hamblett (horns), Emma Gattrill (clarinet and bass clarinet), John Smith delivers on acoustic and electric guitars, lap steel and vocals, an album that is both honest and open in the creation and completion.
Opening with Friends and a message that real connection endures over both time and the miles travelled. It’s as close to a commercial sound as John Smith gets, with its radio-friendly chorus and handclap arrangement. Hold On is just that, a plea to keep moving forward and to share both good and bad times together, ‘Took me a minute to see, When we’re open-hearted, Whatever happens, We’ll be fine.’ The smoky quality in Smith’s delivery includes a vulnerability that adds great character to his soulful tone.
Sanctuary is a song that looks at unfulfilled romance and the feeling of something not fully concluded, ‘I watched you run like crazy, Chasing all those dreams, I tried to follow close, But I ran out of steam.’ A memory or an imagined dalliance? Smith writes all the songs here, including seven co-writes, leading to the strong sense of collaboration that runs through the arrangements and the superbly crafted playing.
Deserving, channels a memory of the late, great John Martyn, whom Smith toured with in the early days. The rhythm and slap-technique on the guitar strings is beautifully executed and the harmony vocals of both Sarah Jaroz and Courtney Hartman are a real treat. A slow groove that flows gracefully and builds into a fine crescendo.
The Best Of Me is another gem, all wrapped up in jazzy tones, with Ben Nicholls on double bass and a special guest appearance from the legendary Bill Frisell on electric guitar. It’s like a delicate flower, opening up to the realisation of what true love means, ‘I lay beside you in the dark, With just the beating of your heart, I know the best of me is here with you.’ Equally, Just As You Are is another love song that promises enduring commitment and a deep sense of belonging - superbly delivered along with the lovely vocals of Jessica Staveley-Taylor.
Other guests include The Milk Carton Kids, who provide additional vocals on the title track, The Fray, a song that reflects upon a career that passes in a blur of bright lights and busy days, with barely enough time to draw breath; ‘ I’ll wait for the lights to fade out, And walk into the fray, We all end up there anyway.’
Star-Crossed Lovers has a beautiful co-vocal with Lisa Hannigan and looks at the difficulty in maintaining a relationship through challenging times, ‘It’s been a crazy year, where do I begin? Would you allow me to confess my sins, And take me gently for the state I’m in?’
It’s very much a contemporary Folk sound and this sixth studio album has Smith playing at the top of his game, putting down a strong marker for continued success into the future and delivering on all his early promise as most likely to succeed. Well worth investigation.
Review by Paul McGee
David John Morris Monastic Love Songs Hinterground
We all search for meaning in this life. Whether we look for gratification in the material world and career success, or whether we seek answers from within, the journey is very much one of personal preference. David John Morris has chosen to focus on his inner path and his spiritual leanings have led to the ten songs included here, all composed during a period of time spent in a Buddhist monastery in Nova Scotia. Morris has now been ordained as a Buddhist monk and his musings on the human spirit, both inner and outer perspectives, coupled with a deep reverence for the eternal beauty contained in nature, form the bedrock of this very enjoyable, self-reflective album.
Morris sings with a hushed vocal style that is reminiscent of Lloyd Cole and is always quietly intimate, even in moments where it appears clipped in tone. As a member of the musical collective that is Red River Dialect, Morris has been recording music since 2010 when he released a duo recording with his friend Simon Drinkwater under the band name. Several releases have followed, ten in total, across EPs and albums both, with the fluid nature of band membership not taking anything away from the reputation earned in English Folk circles.
We now find Morris in solo mode; Folk influences sharply honed and having sought the assistance of two key players to help colour these gentle song arrangements. Thierry Amar (God Speed You Black Emperor) and Thor Harris (The Swans) arrived at Hotel2Tango studios in Montreal to join with Thaye Chosang (the Buddhist name that Morris now uses) and over the course of a day, recorded together. Their understated playing on double bass (Amar), drums, harmonium, vibes (Harris) and Morris/Chosang on guitars and vocals, brings a sense of calm, where the song melodies infuse an atmosphere of reflected lightness. Other players contributed on individual songs, with Tom Relleen (buchla synth), Catrin Vincent (piano), Coral Rose (cello) and Jimmy Robertson (tambourine) adding their separate parts.
All songs were written by Morris except for one, a cover of the traditional Rosemary Lane, which tells the tale of the seduction of a domestic servant by a sailor, who leaves her pregnant and alone. Certainly not a choice in keeping with the search for something deeper within, the theme which permeates the songs that Morris has delivered. If it does seem at odds with the overall message of loving awareness, perhaps it stands alone as a stark reminder that we are the master of our own decisions and the way in which we allow the vicissitudes of life to shape us.
Elsewhere, the opening song, New Safe, deals with letting go of anxiety, fears and ego, with the imagery of emotions we hide away in a safe, securely protected by a code and locked tight. The greater universal message of selfless living is captured on Rhododendron, with lines like ‘Through my senses, doorways open. I've been taking, now I'll learn to give.’ Also, on the track, Skeleton Key, where the secret to open many doors comes from the old self being able to accept the new; I'm in the bardo of becoming. Old self died, New self not yet born.’
It’s all about trusting in the undulating energy that fuels all things. ‘Remember there is no need to strive’ sings Morris as he seeks the union with nature and his inner self. If you view Nature itself as a living, sentient being, then the energy it gives provides all that is required to live openly together in this garden of Eden. This is the message on Gone Beyond, which speaks of; ‘There is a mind so vast, That it has surpassed, All of the hopes, all of the fears. It is already here.’
Purple Gold refers to an old friendship, memories of younger days and meeting up again some years later. Earth and Air seems to reflect an earlier urge to break free and move away from a relationship, while Steadfast deals with a more recent tension between two people, with the message to stop trying so hard to bridge the distance; ‘Tensions rose and tethers slowly frayed, Didn't realise they were starting to braid.’
Circus Wagon is perhaps the most nakedly honest song, with questions around the fallibility of man and the failings of patriarchal Buddhist community leaders to deliver on the principles that they espouse to put into practice in their daily lives; ‘I asked for freedom, And freedom came. Broke the wheels of praise and blame. Circus wagon fell apart, I thought this was my chariot.’
The final song, Inner Smile, is a sentiment of inner joy and written for Hollis, one of the teachers that Morris studied under. It captures the essence of a smile and how it can change the attitude we take in perceiving the world. Morris realised his spiritual calling on a visit to Ireland back in 2015 and a deep resonance felt on visiting the remote island of Skellig Michael. More a giant rock than an island, the experience moved Morris to seek out a life of trying to understand the inner world of being and leave aside the hunt for material affirmation. Whether this search for perfection, in essence, must be flawed, as we are essentially imperfect beings, is something that we can all ponder. However, by aspiring to be a part of a greater ‘whole’ then the path to some enlightenment must lie ahead in the distance… An honest and memorable recording that engages with a hypnotic quality, if you are open to letting the message and the music in.
Review by Paul McGee