Danny Burns Hurricane Bonfire
Born in Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal and spending his childhood between there and New York, Burns has spent most of his adult life playing music in the US. Influenced by both his native Irish folk music and the music of his adopted homeland, there’s an obvious vein of Celtic blood running through his Americana sound. Now based in Nashville, he has called on many well known roots artists to help him realise his vision for HURRICANE, only his second album since his well received 2019 official debut, NORTH COUNTRY. Penning five of the six songs on this EP and producing it himself, Burns shows that he has learned more than a thing or two in his 20 years in the music business. While the overall sound has a definite hint of bluegrass, there are enough other influences here to help it to appeal to a wider audience, perhaps mining the same hills as Sam Bush and Alison Krauss.
Tim O’Brien provides the harmony vocals on the title track, a powerful declaration of love led by Burns’ rich vocals and underlined by the wonderful Matt Menefee on banjo, Josh Metheny on dobro, and Eamon McLoughlin on fiddle. The production here is a very full sound that really works, thankfully allowing other Nashville stalwarts like Jerry Roe (drums), Byron House (bass) and Jef Linsenmeier (keys) to make their contributions count throughout. Dan Tyminski’s familiar acoustic guitar playing opens another powerful track, Trouble, closely followed by the prominent dobro of Jerry Douglas, vying for attention with Eamon McLoughlin again on fiddle. Here, Aubrie Sellers (daughter of Lee Ann Womack) provides the backing vocals.
Many Moons Ago is a moving gentle folk ballad, recounting the story of the financial help given to the Irish by the Choctaw Nation during the Irish potato famine in the nineteenth century, a connection indeed that has continued to the present day. Scott Vestal does his usual standout job on banjo here and and the inspired choice of Sarah Jarosz on harmony vocals and octave mandolin makes the song a perfect slice of Celticana.
Dobro is again an important part of the overall sound on Frontline, another power ballad, and on Golden, where the mighty Sam Bush lends his fiddle, mandolin and vocals.
The cover song is of Steve Earle’s Mercenary Song and features the man himself on one verse, and on bouzouki. The song is given a jaunty ‘Tex Mex meets Irish diddley-eye’ treatment, which veers too close to Galway Girl for this reviewer! Overall, though, this EP is highly recommended and I look forward to a full length offering from Danny Burns soon.
Review by Eilís Boland
Legendary Shack-Shakers Cockadoodledeux Alternative Tentacles
Since my first encounter with Th’ Legendary ShackShakers, live and recorded, I have been hooked by the intensity, diversity, perversity, musicality and sheer entertainment that the band, in its many forms, has delivered. The man who has held the banner high for this band is its founder and central figure, Col. JD Wilkes. Something of a renaissance man, he is a singer, harmonica and banjo player, songwriter, artist, author and director. He performs all these tasks with a skill and insight that adds a depth often missing in those engaged in such wide endeavours. My first recorded encounter was the 2003 Bloodshot release COCKADOODLEDON’T, though I subsequently heard them in a live rough and ready demos set, LOWER BROAD LO FI, that came out later. Those recordings feature Chris Scruggs who, alongside other alumni, makes an appearance here alongside the current line up of Garey Siperko, Fuller Condon and Preston Corn. These include Mark Robertson, Rod Hamdallah and Brett Whitacre. Robertson was an integral member for their memorable appearance at the Kilkenny Rhythm and Roots Festival and also on subsequent visits to these shores.The list of players who have passed through the ranks is listed in the liner notes, and includes some 18 plus musicians. So again kudos to Wilkes for keeping the flame alive and still delivering the goods.
The album opens with a cover of the western theme Rawhide, written by Ned Washington and Dimitri Tiomkin who, it is entirely possible, may never have seen a cow in real life. However it sets up the tone for the remaining tracks. They are a mix of covers and (as is usually the case) original songs penned by Wilkes. Those songs are Tickle Your Innards, They Won’t let Me Forget, Godforsaken Town, U-Can-Be-A-Star, Port Arthur Boys, Secret Mountain, Triple Timer, I Told You So, Farewell Ye Rovin’ Eyed Girls and Punk Rock Retirement Plan.
There are numerous guest appearances that broaden out the ShackShakers sonic country and western palate, which make for some enjoyable contributions to the overall sound. “Hillbilly” Bob Prather, Miranda Ceara Rix-Hayes and label owner Jello Biafra all add vocals while Jack Martin, Micah Hulscher, Patrick Carrico, Dr Ted Borodofsky, Jim Caugill and Rebecca Stout all have walk-on parts that bring some additional authenticity to the material. Again, it is Wilkes who is directing and producing the album and delivering something special that caps the band’s 25 years as a unit.
Wilkes has deliberately brought in some of the veteran Kentucky musicians, who were there at the start, to work with the newer players and the mix works well. They recorded in Paducah, Kentucky and that is a location very important to Wilkes, a musical historian himself who has a deep understanding of the music that originated from that region.
There is an underlying degree of humour in many of the songs, like from his own Punk Rock Retirement Plan wherein the retireee has “put collar back on the hound” and swapped “Johnny Cash for Johnny Rotten and Johnny Horton for Johnny Ramone.” Then there’s the Harlan Howard and Bobby Braddock penned I Don’t Remember Loving You- ‘Don’t tell me that you ain’t gonna smile, as well as tapping your feet and singing along’.
Ultimately this album is a superb summation of the singular imagination and drive of JD Wilkes and the many musicians who have accompanied him under the ShackShakers banner. This is understandably less frantic and intense than earlier recordings, yet that does nothing to detract from the achievement here in marrying the old with the new, the shack and the shakers. One for the ages.
Review by Stephen Rapid
Matt Patershuk An Honest Effort Black Hen
In his bio it states that Patershuk loves words as much as he does music and also that his Grandfather said that “God loves a trier.” Which on the surface may not fill you with too much confidence for the album presented here. However, as the saying goes “this is not his first rodeo.” He has four previous albums to his credit, so as a “trier” he seems to be succeeding on a number of levels. Not least is having the noted producer Steve Dawson at the desk, with all his audio skills and multi-instrumentalist ability. Then add to that Fats Kaplan, Jeremy Holmes, Gary Craig as well as Patershuk’s vocal and musical contributions and the harmony vocals of Keri Latimer and you have the makings of a pretty decent album.
The one thing that Patershuk doesn’t do is short songs. He spreads his observations and tales with songs that run mostly from over four minutes to one clocking in over six minutes. This in effect sets up a listening experience that has the sense of not being rushed. The songs are mid to slow paced slices of Canadiana. Johanna presents a woman who likes to be lost and find herself there. The longest track Jupiter The Flying Horse is set in a travelling circus show. The shortest track Turn The Radio Up celebrates things heard and seen and welcome in middle age. More aware of how a relationship can be difficult and hard to escape is the subject of Sunny. Stay With Me, by way of contrast, wants things to continue despite the inevitable problems. It has a harmony vocal that enhances the mood and positivity of the song and some neat harmonica from Kaplan.
Somewhat deeper in theme is The 2nd Law Of Thermodynamics, though the song has simple banjo and Weissenborn guitar setting that works well. Clever Hans is about an unwanted but very smart horse. Perhaps the most specific song here is Shane McGowan, a tribute to the celebrated singer and Pogues frontman and noting that he “has a brand new smile” but also that the new teeth can also pick up the radio”
The album title pretty much sums up the overall nature of this recording. But in reality, it is more than honest. It is open, understated, heartfelt and largely acoustic in its musical direction, with voice and often a single instrument leading the way. This is very evident in the final song Upright. It is once again in the careful production hands of Steve Dawson and released on his independent Black Hen label. A sure sign of integrity and something of interest. Not that everyone will immediately fall for this album. Though anyone who loves carefully thought out roots music will find something here to savour on what is likely Patershuk’s best album to date and his fans will welcome its truthful tales of relatable folks.
Review by Stephen Rapid
The Felice Brothers From Dreams To Dust Yep Roc
Seventeen albums into a career that kicked off in 2005 with their debut album IANTOWN, the Catskill Mountain band’s line up has had a number of personnel changes over that sixteen-year period. The current band consists of original founding members and brothers Ian (guitar and lead vocalist) and James Felice (multi-instrumentalist and vocals), bass player Jesske Hume and drummer Will Lawrence. Also featured on this self-produced album are trumpet player Nathanial Walcott and Mike Mogis on pedal steel. Having witnessed them perform on numerous occasions, the most recent being in early 2020 when they were touring their excellent 2019 album UNDRESS, I’m of the opinion that this present four-piece format is their most formidable.
Forever straying from the conventional - their self-titled album was recorded in a chicken coop - on this occasion they recorded the album in a small one room church in Harlemville, New York. Built in 1873 and in poor repair, the church was acquired and renovated by Ian Felice. The location proved to be perfectly suited to an album of strikingly evocative songs that address both social and political concerns.
FROM DREAMS TO DUST, as the title implies, finds Ian Felice’s writing at its most creative. It follows the band’s tried and trusted template of pairing thunderously frenetic songs with beautifully constructed and measured ballads. The streams of consciousness style writing, often akin to a jigsaw puzzle with a few pieces missing, challenges the listener to explore the characters and episodes within the songs. Those name checked on the album range from John Wayne to Kurt Cobain, Jean Claude Van Damme to Peter Fonda and Francis of Assisi to Barney Rubble. We hear of Helen and The Sherriff leaving behind their old lives and fleeing in a ‘doomed’ Corvette on the opener Jazz On The Autobahn, which suggests that an impending catastrophe awaits. It’s a powerful opener with heavy percussion and raging horns and one that no doubt will be a feature in their live shows going forward. They maintain a similar pace on To-Do List which follows and to a lesser degree on Celebrity X, the latter aiming daggers at the world of shallow and over exposed so called ‘celebrities.’
Particularly striking and eloquent are a number of songs recited in the spoken word by Ian. Be At Rest, a requiem for a departed Mr. Felice, tells of an ‘owner of two ill-fitting suits…never once named employee of the month and avoider of eye contact. ‘Also delivered in the spoken word, they close the album on a hopeful note with the hymn like We Shall Live Again. Offering a glimmer of hope for the future, (‘from Francis of Assisi to the fans of AC/DC, we shall live again’).
For this writer, YONDER IS THE CLOCK, released in 2009, is The Felice Brothers’ masterpiece. They have certainly matched the brilliance of that album here and, after a few more plays, I’m quite likely to come to the conclusion that they have surpassed it.
Review by Declan Culliton
The Sundogs Embroidered Rose Self Release
Formed by brothers Lee and Will Haraway in Atlanta, Georgia in the early 2000’s, The Sundogs’ harmony drenched sound exquisitely blends power pop with melodic country, bringing to mind both The Jayhawks and Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers. The Tom Petty comparisons actually resulted in the band performing an annual tribute show to Petty each December since 2008.
However, they’re far more than a covers band and EMBROIDERED ROSE, their fifth studio recording, is a ten-track set of polished songs, intricately arranged and consistently pleasing on the ear from start to finish.
Written and recorded during the pandemic, the songs were penned by the two brothers and Jon Harris. The standout track All Of This had me hitting the repeat button on a number of occasions. Gorgeous harmonies, drenched in pedal steel and with killer guitar breaks, it recalls Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young at their finest. The trippy Space & Time is also soothing on the senses, deeply melodic and perfectly executed.
Despite the unsure times in which it was penned, its optimism and hopefulness shine through. The same can be said of the buoyant opening track Love Will Lead Us Through. In fact, that optimism is very much on the agenda across the whole album. The dreamlike The Sundog wouldn’t have been out of place on the soundtrack of Easy Rider and that musical era is also recalled on the album’s title track. They sign off with the raucous Full Speed Ahead, bringing closure to a hugely impressive listen.
Lovers of the late 1960’s and early 70’s sound will lap this up, I certainly did.
Review by Declan Culliton
Megan & Shane Daughter Of Country Self Release
Husband and wife Megan and Shane Baskerville’s first date was at a Motorhead concert at First Avenue in Minneapolis and, as their romance blossomed, they formed a ska band and eventually opened a School of Rock franchise in Arizona. In a previous life Shane had toured with a number of punk bands while Megan was a student of bluegrass, having grown up with a passion and love for country music. That passion was more than a fleeting allure, but instead a method of dealing with a dysfunctional upbringing, where she was raised by a deserted and wayward mother. She confesses to adopting Patsy Cline as a mother figure during her teens, by way of escapism. She opens the title track on the album with the powerful lines, ‘I’m a daughter of country, she raised my whole life, ‘cuz my momma was out getting stoned. My daddy he left us to find his new wife, Patsy kept me from being alone’.
With a lot of collective baggage on board, what better way to unload that baggage than record a county album. DAUGHTER OF COUNTRY is exactly what a genuine country album should be, confronting real life issues and tribulations by creating songs around them. They brought producer Bob Hoag (Courtney Marie Andrews, Gin Blossoms) on board and recorded the nine tracks at Flying Blanket Recording in Mesa, Arizona. Songs that catalogue loss and regret include the title track and Scars (This one’s when I lost that little baby, Lord how I cried and I cried), both of which feature a powerhouse vocal delivery by Megan. Equally notable are her vocals on the bluesy Oh Lord, which recall the wonderful Shelby Lynn. Shane takes the lead vocal on Leaving It All Up To You and the reflective closing track Taken This Long. The latter recalls his survival from an illness that nearly took his life (Said I didn’t have long, six months to live. But I knew in my heart I had more to give). Sweet harmonies and layered vocals combine on the First Aid Kit sounding Little Birds.
Hoag’s production manages to create a charming and cohesive sound on an album that explores a number of tortured personal issues. With a sound that’s at the crossroads between modern country and heartland rock, DAUGHTER OF COUNTRY presents the listener with an affecting collection of songs well worth your attention.
Review by Declan Culliton
Sturt Avenue How Do You Think It Should Be? Self Release
This is a debut album from Australian band Sturt Avenue and a very fine collection of songs it proves to be. Eleven tracks over forty-two minutes of well-crafted arrangements that linger gently in the memory. The collective is made up of three family members and a few friends from the Adelaide suburbs around Sturt Avenue, where they grew up.
Kicking off with the nice flow of Cannery Row and a song about waking up with regrets over the night before, an aching head and questions about why this pattern keeps repeating. Bell Curve Blues looks at the sacrifice of working mundane day jobs in order to be able to meet the bills and come home to the girl that you love. Over Everything deals with the black dog of depression and the lack of purpose in getting through another day. A Few Simple Lines is a sweetly played love song with nice harmony vocals from Bryn Soden, Tarn Soden and Katie Pomery.
Childhood memories are revisited in Waiting, the lines ‘Don't think I didn't see your small sad smile, The kind that doesn't really reach your eyes, When I told you everything would be alright.’ It’s a reflection on all those youthful days of dreaming about the future and wanting to get out into the world.
Lions is a song about regret and looking back at the way life wears down the burning fire of optimistic youth. It’s a pessimistic view of the world, but contains the hope that we can all be reborn and become lions again. Sirens looks at feeling lonely and lost in the alienation of big city lights, ‘Drink for the ghosts of all the friends we left behind, Sing for the silence that is eating me alive, The hungry beast creeps ever closer every night, You’re gonna get what’s coming to you - and so will I.’
The sense of disillusion that runs through a number of these songs is lifted by the craving for things to get better; with Nowhere Town we are given the lines, ‘But by the creek, wild roses grow, And through the fields the hot wind blows, This ugly place is still my home, The only one I have ever known.’ Equally, Flowers On the Sill is a song that looks for the little things, ‘Live quiet, live light, live long, Plant the seeds of brighter futures in the garden, give them love and make them strong.’
Falling is the longest song on the album and has some great guitar parts that heighten the emotion of a troubled romance, ‘But falling in love, Was a rope around your neck, And when you put your head in the stove, Tell me what did you expect? Final track, Stay, is a profession of love to bring everything full circle. The hope that passion will endure and that it is enough to weather all the storms of life.
Bryce Lehmann (drums), Isaak Kerr (bass, vocals) and Dave Thompson (keyboards), provide a solid bedrock for these gentle songs and the fine lead vocals by Bryn Soden are augmented by his prowess on acoustic and electric guitar, ukulele, harmonica, harmonium, toy piano and additional percussion. John Soden contributes on electric guitar, slide guitar and backing vocals and there are also the talents of Ollie Patterson on violin and Sean Helps on flugelhorn to add to the overall sound.
Patrick Lockwood mixed the album with Bryn Soden and it certainly comes across as a real labour of love. The songs evolved over a number of years and the final results point to a bright future for this band of family and friends. Worth your time.
Review by Paul McGee
Joe Stamm Band Midwest Town Self Release
A second release from Joe Stamm and his fine band of brothers. They formed in 2013 and developed a strong work ethic, playing live around their home state of Illinois. Led by the striking vocals and guitar of Stamm, the core band consists of Dave Glover on lead guitar, Bruce Moser on bass, harmonica and percussion and Tim Fiers on drums. They provide the bedrock of the sound and are joined in the studio by Blaine Johnson on swirling B3 organ, Scotty Sanders on superb slide guitar and Jonathan Brown on piano. All the players lift these song arrangements and instil a really dynamic element in their ensemble playing. Perry Coleman, Angie Primm & Tania Hancheroff provide classy background vocals and their voices swell in the overall mix, adding some extra punch.
Stamm describes the band sound as Black Dirt Country Rock “a nod to our Midwestern roots, as well as the Red Dirt music scene, which has had a big influence on our music.” The new album certainly builds upon the momentum of the debut release, THE GOOD AND THE CROOKED (the High and the Horny), which was released two years ago. To these ears, it’s a good helping of countryrock, with elements of blues and honky tonk mixed in. Tracks like Drink Enough (For the Town To Talk) and Speed Trap have the band in full-on attack mode as they burn up the rhythm and rock with some superb guitar driven honky tonk swing.
Hope It Turns Out and Catchin’ My Breath are two slower tracks that show another side to the band. Mostly, the songs fall into the category of everyday middle America, with a list of characters that represent the everyman in our cities and towns. There are long distance truckers (Pocketful Of Quarters), Vietnam Vets (Empty Places), a drugs runner (High Road Home) and an old rodeo rider (Bull Rider).
The final track, Catchin’ My Breath, is a solo acoustic performance and deals with life on the road for Stamm and his dreams of getting back home. He is a fine lyricist and these songs are very authentic in their construction and delivery. In the number, Bull Rodeo, he sings, ‘ Another small town, another few bucks, If this is the dream, I ain't dreamin' enough.’ These lines could equally be identified with the long-distance trucker, the rodeo rider or the road weary musician – all keeping body and soul together as the commitments in life continue to challenge.
There are three bonus tracks on the download I received, including a tribute to the late John Prine (Goodbye John). Another strong statement from a quality songwriter and a band that really knows how to deliver when it comes to dynamic performance. Highly recommended.
Review by Paul McGee
Dar Williams I’ll Meet You Here Renew
Album number twelve in a long and distinguished career, Williams continues to reign at the top of the folk pyramid when it comes to songs from the heart and of social conscience. The album cover has a photograph of Williams, adrift on a floating platform, surrounded by water. One could read into the symbolism as being ‘all at sea,’ but I suggest that such a conclusion is all too simple. Williams is a very literate writer and her words have deep resonance. She is ever the thinker, observing our lives from the perspective of her own and never afraid to open up to the honesty within and the truth that comes forth.
That deck on the water is a raft that connects who she was to the woman that she now has become. As she stands to face the challenges of the modern world, in all her true glory and spirit, she looks at what is around her and charts her own course. It may be six years since the last release but Williams never stops honing her skill-set. Whether this is through the music workshops that she holds or the books that she writes, she continues to stand for all that is good in the craft od song writing.
Interestingly, there is a cover song included on this album, something that Williams seldom does. Sullivan Lane (Gandalf Murphy) is about finding kindred spirits and sharing the closeness of a group that get your essence – inclusion and acceptance. These are the themes that run through the ten songs and they resonate with an openness that bears plenty of rewards for the listener.
One song is taken from her debut album, You’re Aging Well, and its inclusion is the clock turning full circle, as the now-older Williams looks at her life and the journey travelled. "I'm so glad that you finally made it here, With the things you know now, that only time could tell, Looking back, seeing far, landing right where we are.”
Elsewhere we are treated to musings on time in the guise of an ally (Time, Be My Friend), the frustrations of having new talent unrecognised and unrewarded (You Give It All Away), the power of enduring friendship (Let the Wind Blow), discrimination and small-town attitudes (Little Town), young college rebels trying to change the world (Berkeley), the future of our planet and the energy of our next generations to effect positive change (Today and Every Day), a paean to love and learning to accept yourself first (I Never Knew) and staying optimistic and hopeful while you dream of tomorrow (Magical Thinking).
If indeed, life is about meeting everything face on and not backing down from a challenge, then Dar Williams is certainly someone that you want on your side as you stride forward. Her writing remains as relevant today as it has always been; a steadying hand on the rudder and a voice in your ear that says “keep going, everything will work out and listen to your heart.” This album is a strong statement that this lady is not for turning. Her music resonates with both depth and heart and she remains one of the premiere songwriters of our day.
Review by Paul McGee