Phil Lee & Other Old Time Favorites Palookaville
This might constitute Lee’s lockdown album, one he recorded in collaboration with producer and multi-instrumentalist David West who had been a part of Lee’s previous album recorded with the band Crazy Horse. In his teens, Lee played his first gig on drums with Homer A. Briarhopper and the Daybreak Gang on a morning TV show. Briarhopper was a big personality performing country music in North Carolina. He was a formative influence on Lee who later moved to New York, Los Angeles, and Nashville. This latest album was recorded in Santa Barbara, California over a period of Wednesday sessions for a few weeks.
The opening track on this collection Did You Ever Miss Someone? was co-written by Lee and John Sieger and comes in at a timely one minute and fifty-seven seconds. It has an acoustic guitar, dobro, mandolin, and string bass accompaniment that was to be the template for the whole record. But things didn’t quite work out that way and other moods, instruments, and enthusiasms crept in along the way. For the next track, Lee added drums and West played electric guitar and bass that bringing an added dimension to the process. I Like Women continues in the same vein, it’s from the bloodline of Chuck Berry and is another co-write for Lee. Might As Well Be is a summation of the musician’s life on the road.
The sentiment of the original template is back for The Devil And The Farmer’s Wife with the acoustic instrumentation on Lee’s arrangement of a public domain ballad which he heard on a field recording by Hamper McBee. Forever After All continues in the same style and is a reflective ballad of the approaching sunset of life. Daddy’s Jail originally appeared on a Bloodshot Records compilation. Lee notes that his father, who was in charge of the Durham Country Jail, was taken with that version but Lee also feels this time out that his father would also have approved. Also close to home is Where Is The Family Today?, which deals with the song title’s question of a true tale of his close (and not so close) relations.
A song he recorded with Crazy Horse, Wake Up Crying gets reimagined here in a bluegrass setting and is well suited to both arrangements, the sign of a good song. The closing choice is another public domain gospel song Just A Closer Walk With Thee which was recorded in the past by Elvis but for Lee, the version sung by Harry Dean Stanton in Cool Hand Luke was the inspiration. Its strength is in the simplicity and sincerity of their reading as it finishes the album with Lee’s distinctive voice echoing as it does throughout with his immediately recognisable timbre.
All Lee’s releases have been worthy of praise and this is no exception. The interaction between Lee and West is a perfect meeting of minds and offers more than enough variety which encompasses his personal vision of bluegrass, as well as venturing into the Bakersfield sound and beyond. However, it is Lee’s songwriting and song choices that make this a good addition to his work cannon and also something of a perfect introduction to find out if you are of the same persuasion as Lee in terms of his oeuvre. So fun for all the family and one to add to your favourite albums of the year.
Review by Stephen Rapid
The Ben Jarrell Band Up And Headed West Self Release
This album was originally released last year but only recently came to our attention. It has a debt to Waylon Jennings and to Southern Rock but stands up for itself and heads west to some strong country territory. In 2019 Jarrell released TROUBLED TIMES, an album that was well received by those who encountered it by all accounts and this new album will doubtless get a similar response.
It is produced by Brett Robinson, who also holds down the pedal steel role with Whitey Morgan’s band the 78’s, and as such would seem ideally placed to take charge here. He joins the band here on three tracks, sharing the pedal steel duties with Jordan Harazin (a performer in his own right). The guitarist laying down some sweet twang is Jimmy Teardrop, he is joined by a number of additional players who vary to some degree depending on the track. The consistent voice throughout is that of Jarrell and is perfectly suited to this particular potent blend of hard-core country and Southern swagger and attitude. This is something that is currently not uncommon with a lot of bands around at the moment, but Jarrell gets the balance right in terms of tempo, tone, and delivery.
The album consists of ten tracks all written by Jarrell either solo or with like-minded contributors. First to gain attention is the tenderness of Chevrolets And Angels. It’s a song that starts with Spanish guitar and a superbly seasoned vocal that builds its tale with pedal steel guitar to emote the sadness of the song’s story of a car/racing lover who takes one ride too many. While it stands in contrast to the more uptempo songs that abound on the album, it shows Jarrell’s affinity with disparate lifestyles. Many of the songs relate strongly to life on the road, either just cruising around or making a living covering asphalt, witnessed by titles like Bald Tires and Wheels. Also included is a cover of a song by Ken Munds’ Trucker And The UFO, that details an alien encounter on the highway. Maybe we have a likely contender for a modern-day Red Simpson to contend with here?
While other material such as the opening Irish Goodbye through to Jack Of Clubs, Coming Down and Alabama Rose all tell of lifestyle, love, and moving on. They all do so with an obvious intent to get the delivery exactly right. Given this is a self-funded independent release that makes it all the more praise worthy. Like many similar acts, the Ben Jarrell Band can very easily escape the attention they deserve. This album was released last year but still warrants your consideration.
The final track A Fish Named Revelation is given to darker apocalyptic images that are revelations from the end of the line and all that may then occur - “won’t you lend me a dime to pay the toll.” This is delivered with some hard guitar and sturdy vocals as is appropriate to its message.
Jarrell is an Alabama native and recorded the album in his home State. His own background story has not been an easy one, but he and his band can be justly proud of this album and they are certainly up and heading in the right direction.
Review by Stephen Rapid
Peter Rogan Broken Down Love Melt Shop
Kicking off with the title track, Peter Rogan sets a high standard for his new album, one that he impressively matches on all twelve tracks here. Using the metaphor of fixing an old car, he likens the challenge to his broken relationship and the fact that it’s probably going to be easier to bring the automobile back to some kind of working order.
The blues rhythm of Short Shifter Blues spins out the sorry tales of folks who have to work so hard to make ends meet and to rise above the cards that life has dealt them. Back To Natchez is a song about a trucker who lives on the road with the pain of a broken romance his constant companion. Never able to revisit where they first met and never able to rekindle old flames that have gone out.
All That’s Left Is the Blues is a slow song that is laced with regret and thoughts of where things went wrong with a relationship. The theme of loss certainly kicks off this follow up to his 2019 debut, Still Tryin' to Believe. There is a cover of the Rolling Stones song, It’s Only Rock n’ Roll, and Rogan gives it a funky workout with a great horn arrangement and backing vocals. The fun of Dancin’ Naked is a novel way to decompress from the daily grind and to shake it all loose in the night.
Butter Lane is a gentle song with pedal steel and restrained guitar setting the tempo. There is a great harmonica and keyboard groove in the arrangement and a tight feel to the song dynamic. The song channels a youthful memory of growing up and the recollections of innocent times. My Kinda Strange rocks out with a rootsy swing and attitude. Great band dynamic in the playing and a flirtatious lyric about what is good about a sense of lustful attraction. Don’t Be Afraid Of the Rain is a superb song about living free and not letting fear dictate how to experience the good times.
Ship’s A Burnin’ is another song about leaving the past behind and being ready to move on. Not relying on the attachments that can bind, shedding skin and embracing the future. Thank You Girl is a John Hiatt song and Rogan does it justice, as the second cover song on the album. The ensemble are right in the groove and the musicians are Will Kimbrough (electric, acoustic, slide guitars, harmonica), Phil Madera (keyboards and lap steel), Dennis Holt (drums and percussion), Chris Donohue (electric and acoustic bass) and Rogan himself on electric, acoustic guitars and vocals.
Final song, I Wish, arrives all too early in the proceedings and it’s a sad reflection on regrets over the way in which a relationship can end. Almost as if by holding back in the middle of a difficult moment, somehow things might just not escalate out of control… The playing is wonderful, with Rogan using all the easy charm of the same troupe he used on the debut release. With the great playing talent on offer it’s a warm album that sucks you in at every turn and I recommend it to you as a fine example of the hidden gems that await those who are happy to dig below the surface.
Review by Paul McGee
Brian Straw Baby Stars/Dead Languages Land Lover
Brian Straw has been a stalwart of the Cleveland, Ohio music scene for the past 20 years, after having moved there as a young man, from his native Indiana. Known for pushing the boat out in rock circles with his experimental approach, he fell into addiction and his last album was released in 2005. Thankfully he survived, still keeping in touch with the music industry, and he had his last drink in 2017.
These songs on his new album have been germinating since then and he has finally committed them to the recording process in his very own studio, Survival Kit. Openly acknowledging that he has lived the cliche of moving from rock bottom to sobriety and now to peace, the songs on this double album chronicle that journey in real time. Variously described as experimental-folk, indie folk and rock, the overall sound is a curious amalgam of all of these. Opening with the moody, broody, bass drum heavy Sleep Study - ‘your eyes lead me to this place where we begin’, through I Have Not Wandered and I Still Dream of You, Straw evokes a dreamlike landscape of shadows and murk. Addiction to heroin and other hard drugs are the inspiration for Needle in the Creek and Keys To My Room, the former detailing a time with a female friend who was also a heroin addict, and who sadly died not along after the song was written.
The songs are relatively long (hence a double vinyl consisting of 12 songs in total) and lyrically obscure. Shades of his past experimental work pop up through out, with a sonic palette that varies from voice and piano to full blown orchestration. Recommended for those who like to be challenged in their music listening.
Review by Eilís Boland
The Wilder Blue Self-Titled Self-Release
Formed in 2019, this is the second album release from the Texas five-piece band, The Wilder Blue. Previously known as Hill Country, the five members are frontman and songwriter Zane Williams, lead guitarist Paul Eason, bass player Sean Rodriguez, drummer Lyndon Hughes, and multi-instrumentalist Andy Rogers. With an emphasis on five-part harmonies and songs that range from ‘busted hearts’ to ‘killer road songs’, the album travels from the classic country rock of the early 70s to the breezy Americana sound of more recent times.
They recorded this self-titled album at Echo Studios in Denton Texas under the watchful eye of producer and studio owner Matt Pence, whose previous life included drumming with the revered alt-country band Centro-matic. Without a recording deadline, the band completed the album over a nine-month period, spending a number of three day recording sessions in the studio.
Crisscrossing from bluegrass to gospel and country funk, the standout tracks of the twelve are Wave Dancer, Picket Fence and the bluesy six-minute track, The Ol’ Guitar Picker. Steeped in jaunty melodies and killer harmonies, both of which are particularly impressive on The Conversation, this is solid and uncomplicated Texan country rock of the highest order.
Review by Declan Culliton
Charley Crockett Lil’ G.L. Presents: Jukebox Charley Son of Davy/Thirty Tigers
Continuing his prolific recording output - this is his twelfth album in seven years - Texas singer-songwriter Charley Crockett’s latest offering is his fourth recording under the Lil’ G.L. Presents series. Using his side name ‘Lil’ G.L.’, the recordings are all reconstructions of classic country and roots songs by Crockett, delivered in his distinctive Texan baritone drawl. A dedicated student of traditional country music, what makes these albums all the more interesting is Crockett’s capacity to unearth songs unfamiliar to all but the most erudite followers of country music. The benefit of this is twofold, giving the listener the benefit of listening to an album of originals from Crockett and also the impetus to seek out the original versions and their authors.
As you might expect, all the standard topics that inspire country songs get an airing. We’re introduced to cheating women (Porter Wagoner’s Heartbreak Affair, Wayne Kemp & Bill McDonald’s Same Old Situation), busted hearts (Jerry Reed’s I Feel For You, Willie Nelson’s Motel Home), drinking (George Jones’ Out Of Control, Joe Avants Jr & John Koonse’s Battle With The Bottle), and heartfelt regret (Tom T Hall’s I Hope It Rains at My Funeral and Lonely in Person). The title track was written by Johnny Paycheck and Aubrey Mayhew and, alongside the other thirteen songs, it’s a reminder of the golden years of country songwriting during the 1960s. With his ‘go-to’ producer Billy Horton at the controls and a team of talented players contributing, JUKEBOX CHARLEY is yet another gem by one of the most sincere and gifted torch carriers of authentic country music today.
‘’They better watch out in country music because I’m just getting started in country music, brother,’’ were the parting words from Crockett when we last interviewed him in the summer of 2020. He’s more than living up to that declaration on another outstanding collection of fourteen songs worthy of gracing any country music jukebox.
Review by Declan Culliton
Cowboy Junkies Songs of the Recollection Proper
“Long before we were musicians, we were music fans. We didn't grow up sitting around the kitchen table playing instruments and harmonizing. We grew up sitting around the record player listening to each other's record collections and having our minds blown,’’ confesses Michael Timmins, which explains the conception and material sources for Cowboy Junkies’ nine-track covers album SONGS OF THE RECOLLECTION. Included on the album are songs and artists that have featured in the bands’ setlists over their thirty-five-year life span. On occasions, these reworkings stick close to the originals and on others, they reconstruct the songs with their characteristic low-fi sound.
Formed in 1985, Cowboy Junkies’ line up remains today as it was on day one. The four -piece includes siblings Michael, Peter and Margo Timmins alongside lifelong friend, Alan Anton. With an eagle eye for identifying songs that suit their distinctive style, their version of Lou Reed’s Sweet Jane, which featured in the 1994 film Natural Born Killers, signalled a major breakthrough in both the U.S. and Europe. Throughout the band’s career span, they have seldom strayed from their particular style, surrounding Margo’s ambient and evocative vocals with atmospheric sonics. They remain true to that tried and tested application here.
Included on the album are David Bowie’s Five Years and Neil Young’s Don’t Let It Bring You Down, both of which have previously been included in their live shows, and they don’t stray too far from the originals with these studio recordings. Why try and improve on perfection? In fact, Five Years is identical to Bowie’s version and Neil Young’s classic is energised by screeching fuzzy guitar, rendering it more like a Crazy Horse version than the maiden recording. Likewise, No Expectations, borrowed from The Rolling Stones 1968 album BEGGARS BANQUET, replicates the Stones’ version, albeit with Margo’s purring vocals replacing Jagger’s more bluesy drawl. In contrast, Gram Parsons’ classic Ooh Las Vegas is given a dark, wistful and somewhat unrecognisable makeover, with a sound very much in keeping with the song’s miserable backstory. Equally experimental is their rocked-up version of the Gordon Lightfoot ballad The Way I Feel. The other songs re-worked on the album are Seventeen Seconds by The Cure, a second Neil Young selection Love In Mind, and Bob Dylan’s I've Made Up My Mind To Give Myself To You.
With all the previously mentioned tracks being recordings by major artists, they also include a song by a lesser-known artist and close friend. Vic Chestnutt, who passed away in 2009, was held in such esteem by Cowboy Junkies that they recorded DEMONS, an entire album of Chestnutt songs, after his passing. Fittingly, he is remembered here with the inclusion of a stunningly haunting rendition of Marathon, which featured on his 2007 album NORTH STAR DESERTER.
Cover albums can be hit and miss affairs, often recorded by way of a contractual obligation or filling a gap between recordings of original material. That’s certainly not the case with SONGS OF THE RECOLLECTION, which is a proud and sincere celebration by Cowboy Junkies of where their influences have been drawn from. It really is a compelling listen from start to finish, by a creative band that seldom puts a foot wrong.
Review by Declan Culliton
Erika Lewis A Walk Around The Sun Self Release
The Delondes’ John James Tourville takes the credit for the production on this debut solo recording from Erika Lewis. A member of the renowned New Orleans jazz and roots street band Tuba Skinny, Lewis spent her early years in New Orleans’ French Quarter, in the main busking with jazz player Meschiva Lake. They subsequently formed the band The Magnolia Beacon and travelled to Europe, living and performing in both Berlin and Latvia, before returning to Louisiana.
While temporarily living in Nashville, it’s no surprise that she recorded this album at Andrija Tokic’s analog studio, The Bomb Shelter. So many albums arriving at Lonesome Highway in recent times credit this location and the common denominator among them is their consistent quality. A WALK AROUND THE SUN is certainly no exception.
With the laid-back and graceful arrangements that complement Lewis’ delicate vocal deliveries, previous albums from occasional New Orleans residents Alynda Segarra and Esther Rose come to mind. In fact, the album follows a similar pattern to the gorgeous HOW MANY TIMES, released by Rose last year, and also has echoes of the early Hurrah For The Riff Raff recordings.
It offers eleven self-written tracks with themes that run the emotional gauntlet from survival to loss and rebirth. With splashes of mournful pedal steel and nimble fiddles arriving in all the right places, tracks such as If You Were Mine, First Love, Running Wild and the particularly beautiful Love Song stand out. Lewis turns the tempo up on the bluesy Unsatisfied and she’s in fine form vocally on the instantly arresting title track.
Faced with the trauma of a diagnosis that required surgery on her vocal nerves, the album could have been Lewis’ final recording. Following the diagnosis, a successful fund-raising campaign was launched by her Tuba Skinny bandmate Shaye Cohn to finance the recording and, thankfully, the surgery proved successful. Fortunately, we can now look forward to further installments from the honeyed voiced artist with a keen eye for well-crafted and melancholic ballads.
Review by Declan Culliton
Pete Gow Leo Clubhouse
The title of Pete Gow’s third solo record is taken from the album’s central track Leonard’s Bar. It’s a seven-and-a-half-minute tale of a hopeless and desperate ex-criminal, planning his final raid and payoff. It reads like a tale from the pen of Richmond Fontaine’s Willy Vlautin and, although not the opening track, very much sets the atmosphere and colour for much of the accompanying songs.
That mood and darkness was very much a feature of Case Hardin, the U.K. roots combo fronted by Gow, although the musical direction of his solo albums is entirely more adventurous and ambitious.
HERE THERE’S NO SIRENS, released by Gow in 2019 and nominated for the AMA-UK’s ‘Album of the Year’, was the initial departure by Gow from the traditional roots sound of Case Hardin. Awash with symphonic strings and crowning brass, it chronicled painful tales of heartache and loss. No less dramatic was THE FRAGILE LINE which followed in 2020. Completing the trilogy, LEO, in many ways surpasses both those recordings.
Reuniting with producer Joe Bennett, the recording took place at Farm Music Studios. Vocals and guitar parts were performed by Gow, drums by Fin Kenny, and just about everything else by Bennett. The final mix is credited to Tony Poole of Starry Eyed and Laughing and Bennett Wilson Poole fame. It opens with the swashbuckling Where Else Would We Be Going and closes with a gentle reprise of that same song. I was immediately reminded of the soulful sounds of Graham Parker and The Rumour on that opener and the glorious echoes of Van Morrison backed by the Caledonia Soul Orchestra come to mind on Both Sides Are Down. Equally impressive are the aforementioned Leonard’s Bar and the dazzling Eight Long Hours.
An album that crosses from the relaxed to the frenetic and with arrangements that compliment Gow’s vocals, it completes a hat track of stunning albums from its author and his trusted team.
Review by Declan Culliton