Mean Mary Portrait of a Woman Part 1 Wood Rock
Mary James has been known professionally as ‘Mean Mary’ since the age of six when she wrote her first song, Mean Mary from Alabam. Her life story to date reads like something from a novel, being brought up in a big Floridian family with unconventional nomadic parents, but always with music at its core. She played banjo, fiddle and guitar and performed live and on radio shows as a child, mostly with her brother Frank, who was equally accomplished both musically and academically. Later they performed their duo show on horseback, then spent several years in LA, performing on tv and in films. After a serious car accident as an adult, Mary’s vocal cords were severely damaged, to the extent that she was told she’d never sing again, but her by now legendary determination and perseverance won out, and she eventually regained her distinctive, rich, deep vocals.
Her latest album finds Mary in hearty singing voice, her powerful vocals matched by her prowess on her signature black Deering Crossfire electric banjo. Difficult to categorise, because there really is no one who sounds just like her, her self penned songs loosely fall into the folk category, but there’s a stridency about her material that suggests she might be really be a rock performer at heart. Numbers like Cranberry Gown (with a big nod to the Irish ballad The Star of the County Down), No Man’s Land and Old Banjo explore facing up to adversity. Both producing and writing or co-writing all the songs herself, Mary keeps it in the family by having brother Frank join her on 12-string guitar on five of the eleven tracks, and she co-writes six of those tracks with her mother, Jean. Like novelist Jean, Mary became a successful writer (of mystery novels) while she was recuperating from the car accident, and there’s more than a hint of drama and theatre in many of the songs here. Bette, Come Back recounts the melodramatic frantic tale of the missing companion, only to end with an unexpected twist.
Being a touring musician (and often a woman touring alone) was the inspiration for the interesting Bridge Out, a long dramatic story she performs as a duet with Frank; and for the most affecting Big Tour Bus. Of course she doesn’t have that bus nor the ‘driver named Gus’, instead she’s ‘Livin’ the dream, with 500 miles of road in between … exiting the bar with her pepper spray gun, for another sleep in my car night’. There are also two instrumentals, and the record finishes on an unexpected hopeful note with the love song, Clouds Roll By. Worth checking out.
Review by Eilís Boland
Grits & Gravy Stringband Ain’t Nothin’ But A Thing Self Release
Probably the best known and most active collective flying the flag for American Old Time music in Ireland, Grits & Gravy Stringband have released their first record. Self produced and recorded in Cork’s Shawsome Studios, it’s a fifteen track collection of standards (and some lesser known tunes) from the vast cannon of the genre. There’s never been anything other than a small following for the music in Ireland, which is barely known here, despite the fact that the music has its roots partly in the traditional Irish, Scottish and English tradition brought to the Americas by the settlers of the 18th and 19th centuries. Also known as ‘old timey’ or ‘mountain music’, it has many similarities with our own indigenous traditional tunes. Initially fiddle and banjo led, nowadays the music is often bolstered by the presence of upright bass, guitar, mandolin and dobro.
The tunes here are led by the superb twin fiddling of Ian Knepper and Caolán Keogh. Ben Keogh (father of Caolán and formerly one third of the much missed Dublin trio, The Rough Deal Stringband) plays open backed frailing banjo and sings, Siona Knepper plays bass and fiddle and Camilla Monroe plays guitar. A rowdy and lively music that is most at home in all night sessions encouraging social interaction, the mostly fast paced tunes here are no exception. Names like Boys them Buzzards are Flying and Farmer’s Daughter belie the rural origins of the music. Doc Watson popularised the well known Shady Grove, but here it’s given a more traditional treatment by Ben Keogh in his awe-inspiring ‘high lonesome’ vocals. Another highlight is his rendition of the heartbreaking Ain’t No Ash Will Burn, while Síona and Camilla have fun singing on I Will Never Marry. Ten of the tracks are instrumentals and be warned that dancing will be hard to resist!
Colin Derham has hit the mark with his exquisite album artwork, which is based on line drawings of the tools of the trade of a fiddle maker, complete with a sepia photo of the band. Recommended.
[Footnote: since the album was recorded (2020), Síona Knepper tragically passed away in July 2022 from an aggressive cancer. We extend our sympathies to her husband, Ian, and their young daughter, as well as to the band and her wider circle. Síona was a well known and popular musician and educator in Cork and her legacy will live on in the many lives she touched]
Review by Eilís Boland
Carter Felker Even The Happy Ones Are Sad Self Release
It seems that much of this second album from Carter Felker originates in a task that his partner Amy Nelson set him: to put a bunch of his saddest lyrics, against type, to some upbeat melodies. The album’s title reflects that this, as an overall set of songs, fits that overall theme. The lyrics, however, are often tales of misadventure as much as sadness. Equally they are not without a certain amount of humour to balance that darker tone. The opening song Ski Mask is the tale of a man who takes his roommate’s gun in order to rob a local credit union. Set to a shuffle beat you can dance to, it doesn’t work out too well in its ill considered aim to change his life for the better and maybe get his woman back. Party Pooper deals with exactly that, a man who decides he has better things to do other than party. Nothing But Net tells of a tall basketball player who’s has an injury which sidelines his hopes in that direction, and it has some nice steel playing to enhance it musically. Francine is a murder ballad that details the events leading to that moment and was the first of the songs to fit the brief. It is indeed as dark as it can get, yet set against a lively attractive tune. Ain’t Got Time For That lists the many things, both good and bad, that are to be avoided or placed on hold to just go about one’s day to day business. The final song, The Legend, might be considered a tribute to Prine’s inspiration, as much as summarising the life of a would be troubadour.
Felker has said that he agrees with the Tom Waits’ credo, which finds the telling of terrible things set to beautiful melodies an interesting way to process that negativity. John Prine is again a touchstone for Felker as he feels that Prine was the reason he does what he now does. He has performed Prine’s songs many times and has absorbed some of his penchant for writing thoughtful, likeable, character studies.
The album was produced by JJ Mayo and Pat Palarday, both of whom are among the featured musicians, Mayo playing guitar, keyboards and pedal steel as well as drums and Palarday contributes keyboards. Felker adds acoustic guitar and obviously lead vocals, something that he does effectively throughout the album.
While the album title is mirrored in much of the material here, this is an album that will help Felker’s reputation as one of the new exponents of folk and traditional country music storytelling in his native Calgary, Canada and beyond. It has its antecedents in the 60s and 70s singer/songwriter era but works in the context of today’s broad musical alliances as well as anyone out there trying to find their place in a much crowed marketplace.
Review by Stephen Rapid
John Anderson Something Borrowed Something New: A Tribute to John Anderson Easy Eye Sound
Switching from his love of rock and roll to country music at the age of fifteen, John Anderson moved from his hometown of Apopka, Florida to Nashville, where he launched his career by playing local clubs at night while working a variety of day jobs. Since the release of his first single I’ve Got a Feelin’ (Somebody’s Been Stealin’) in 1977, he has reached the number one spot with five singles on the Billboard Country Charts and has recorded over twenty studio albums, the most commercially successful being SEMINOLE WIND, released in 1992.
Anderson suffered a medical emergency prior to the pandemic and while recovering was contacted by Dan Auerbach of Black Keys fame, who coaxed Anderson back into the studio and produced his 2020 album, YEARS. Enthused by that project, Auerbach invited a host of artists to feature on this tribute album and, unsurprisingly, each and every one of them agreed to collaborate, a pointer toward the regard in which Anderson is held. Artists that have come to the fore in recent years such as Tyler Childers, Sierra Ferrell and Luke Combs are joined by industry legends like the late John Prine, Del Mc Coury, Gillian Welch, and Jamey Johnson.
Released on Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound label, the collection includes eleven of Anderson’s songs performed by some of the most celebrated artists in country and roots music, together with, what is believed to be the final recording by John Prine, who opens the album with a stellar version of 1959. With so many riches, it’s a challenge to highlight the standout tracks, such is the quality on offer here. Luke Combs’ version of Seminole Wind is a crescendo hitter and is simply stunning. Two female artists are included and both excel, Sierra Ferrell performs Years and Ashley McBryde’s version of Straight Tequila Night sounds as if it was written for her to perform. Jamey Johnson’s gravelly vocal is well suited to I’m Just An Old Chunk Of Coal (But I’m Going To Be A Diamond One Day) and Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings slow things down with a tender presentation of I Just Came Home To Count The Memories.
The remaining contributions are by Sturgill Simpson (When It Comes To You), Brent Cobb (Wild And Blue), Nathaniel Rateliff (Low Dog Blues), Eric Church (Mississippi Moon), Del McCoury (Would You Catch A Falling Star) and Brothers Osborne (You Can’t Judge A Book By It’s Cover).
With adaptations that remain true to the original versions and stellar playing and production, this is a deeply satisfying listen from start to finish. It’s also a ‘must have’ for lovers of country music and will have listeners, as it did with myself, revisiting the back catalogue of this legendary artist.
Review by Declan Culliton
Andrew Combs Sundays Loose
Written and recorded in 2021, at a time when the Nashville based singer songwriter Andrew Combs was coming to terms with and recovering from a mental breakdown, SUNDAYS is an eleven-track collection of songs directed towards self-examination, composed during that period of personal illness and while facing an uncertain pandemic locked world.
The album takes its title from the recording process which found Combs and his collaborators, Jordan Lehning and Dominic Billet, entering the studio each Sunday, recording songs that Combs had written the previous week. Quite a departure from his two previous full length studio albums, CANYONS OF MY MIND (2017) and IDEAL MAN (2019), Combs has discarded the lush and melodic sound of those most impressive recordings, preferring a more stripped back and considered approach this time around.
Living up to its title, the album was co-produced by Combs and Lehning (Rodney Crowell, Caroline Spence, Caitlin Rose), and recorded in mono, which contributes to the chilled and easy-going Sunday morning vibe to the songs. Mid-tempo mediative tracks such as (God) less, Truth and Love, and See Me, have a first take feel to them, as the author reflects on his current circumstances. ‘We are capable of such a mess, but God still lives on in godlessness,’ Combs announces on the former and album opening track. Those words bookmark the theme contained throughout, one of reappraisal, acceptance and rebirth.
Accusation and blame rather than taking personal responsibility are considered on Mark of the Man and the gorgeous The Ship impeccably explores the pursuit of release and recovery. Another album highpoint is Anna Please, which was apparently inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film ‘Cries and Whispers’, and has shades of Steely Dan at their most laid back. Combs says his goodbyes with the closer Shall We Go. A shanty like song, it was inspired by the Samuel Beckett play, ‘Waiting For Godot’.
SUNDAYS is a reminder and reflection on the mental turmoil and fragility faced by many artists in a career that is very often unforgiving and unrewarding. It’s also a powerfully emotive and forthright album by an artist who, based on his back catalogue, should be a household name in singer songwriter circles. Let’s hope it has also been a healing and restorative project for Combs. It can be a difficult listen at times and may catch lovers of Combs’ previous work off guard, but repeated listens, with the liner notes at hand, reveal a cache of impassioned and lyrically astute compositions.
Review by Declan Culliton
Monica Taylor Trains, Rivers & Trails Horton
Her distinctive vocal style and the Cimmaron River, which flows close to her home in Oklahoma, resulted in Monica Taylor being christened ‘The Cimarron Songbird’ by fellow singer songwriters, Jimmy La Fave and Bob Childers. TRAINS, RIVERS & TRAILS is Monica Taylor’s third solo album and she is also a member of the Western Swing trio The Cherokee Maidens, alongside Robin Lynn Macy and Jennifer Pettersen.
With Cherokee Indian heritage and Scottish roots, Taylor is very much a country girl at heart and her deep love of natural beauty, which has surrounded her since childhood, is very much evident on this recording. “I’ve always wanted to put out an album of songs about rivers and old dirt roads,” she explains and across the eleven tracks that feature on the new album, she pays homage to all three with a free and easy style.
Co-produced by Taylor and her husband Travis Fite, fellow Okies John Fullbright, and Jared Tyler are among a host of players that joined them in the studio. Together with her self-written songs, Taylor includes a few well-chosen covers such as The Ballad of Easy Rider and Gentle on My Mind, both of which maintain the album’s core theme of travel and freedom. She shares vocals with John Fullbright and tips her hat in the direction of another Oklahoma native, Woody Guthrie, with an upbeat rendition of Minor Key.
Opening with the lively The Sound Of A Train and closing with the gentle Ocoee Love Song, there’s a consistent ambience throughout the album. Taylor’s vocals are effortless and relaxed and she’s surrounded by players whose arrangements more than complement those vocals. She recalls her great-great grandmother’s relocation to Oklahoma in the early 1800s by way of ethnic cleansing on the sorrowful Salty Tears. Upbeat toe tappers Down In Louisiana and Train Take Me Away are hook laden delights and other highlights include the more rueful Just Came In To Say Goodbye.
An album that addresses Taylor’s visionary personal journey since childhood, it captures the mood of carefree and fun filled times together with more solemn matters. All in all, a most impressive and highly enjoyable listen.
Review by Declan Culliton
Mike Brookfield Built To Last Golden Rule
Based in Dublin, this fine guitar player originally learned his craft while playing in various bands across Liverpool, London and Manchester, taking in the best that each city had to offer, in honing his skills. All these capitals boast a deep musical legacy over the years and Brookfield has been a willing student. His creative output has resulted in four previous solo albums and many slots playing with famous artists, together with a role as a music coordinator on Ireland’s leading television station, RTE.
His music has previously leant towards a blues rock sound, however, on this new album Brookfield has moved in new territories, without veering too far away from the original source that gained him such a respected reputation. It’s definitely a more commercial sound and who can blame him for wanting to try out the mainstream in search of wider recognition.
The ten tracks are certainly dressed to impress, and Brookfield displays his sense for a catchy rhythm and melody with opener, Delirium Town, setting the pace with a great band dynamic. Every track is recorded with an energy that sparks and with Paul Moore (bass) and Dave McClune (drums) providing the stellar rhythm section, we are treated to the skilful playing of Paul Eades (keyboards) and the guitar histrionics of Brookfield to ignite the flame. Grainne Brookfield provides engaging backing vocals throughout and raises the arrangements to new levels with her harmonies.
Speedway has a prominent guitar tone driving the melody and sees Brookfield cutting loose, even if the middle section, with counter rhythm guitar sounds, does not sit as easily in the final mix. The more laid-back groove of Workin’ On You Baby has a salsa styled, shuffle drum beat that gives the arrangement an atmospheric lift. East Village Vinyl Queen follows with a more commercial sound and a radio-friendly groove.
Dunkirk Spirit is a call-out to those who ignore the need to come together in times of trouble and challenge. Community has never been more important than in these days of post Covid fallout and ongoing social constraints. A Life Lived For Others is a look at the frustrations in rearing a family, the difficulties and the pull towards walking a negative path. Looking for the joy in things is the only possible release and focusing on the needs of others ahead of yourself.
Nothin’ To Sing But The Blues has a nice tempo and is a chance for Mike to showcase his excellent guitar technique and tone. He is a very lyrical player and never allows his natural feel to be lost in the band dynamic. Snatched It From My Hand is another commercial sounding track that rolls along on a bright and breezy melody despite the dark lyrics about rampant property development, and other examples of greed. Kiss Me Deadly strides along powerful melody lines with the band driving home the rhythm and closing song, Built To Last has sweet harmonies from Mike and Grainne colouring the acoustic guitar and gentle percussion.
A very solid return from this gifted musician and an enjoyable listening experience. The production is very bright and clean, just like the album artwork which delivers sharp images that highlight a confident Mike Brookfield and his Stratocaster guitar. A man that is ready for all that the future has in store.
Review by Paul McGee
Paul Kelly Time Cooking Vinyl
Another very timely reminder from this accomplished Australian singer songwriter who has always remained at the forefront of artists who developed their craft in Australia. He has released a huge volume of albums, including a number of previous “Best Of” collections. Perhaps his greatest output in this sense was, “The A to Z Recordings (2004-2010),” a 106-track, eight-CD boxed set. Kelly toured this concept, as a new idea for live performance, in 2011, and I was privileged to see him play this set, over four nights, in Dublin’s Sugar Club with his nephew Dan Kelly on guitar accompaniment. It was an incredible performance to witness, and each show had a different set list, each night. Quite stunning in both construct and delivery.
This new compilation is a look at a selection of songs taken from the vaults of past recordings, and Kelly has selected thirty songs to represent his journey across fourteen releases, highlighting that his creative output has always remained at the highest levels of quality and excellence. There is one new song, Back To the Future, and ten of the featured songs are taken from three specific albums, WAYS AND MEANS (2004 - four songs), NOTHING BUT A DREAM (2001 - three songs) and SPRING AND FALL (2012 - three songs). There are a number of live tracks, six in all, taken from various concerts recorded over the years and those who are already acquainted with Kelly’s music will happily recognise songs like, When I First Met Your Ma; Love Never Runs On Time; From Little Things Big Things Grow; Winter Coat; Deeper Water and How To Make Gravy. He even turns Shakespeare’s words into song on, Sonnet 60, sounding ever profound in the Nick Cave-like delivery.
As a theme, Time, is something that we all dwell upon, at one stage or another, as the years come and go. Kelly has always grappled with this concept and the fear of wasting this precious commodity, whether in love or in terms of musical journey. He finds himself in a rich vein of form right now and further releases are expected later this year. If you want to play catch up on his glittering career, then this compilation is the perfect starting place.
Review by Paul McGee
Ever More Nest Out Here Now Parish Road
The name, Ever More Nest, is the performance moniker of Kelcy Mae. She hails from the Mississippi Delta and her music is fused with the deep rhythms of the region and that special insight that coming from the lands of the bible belt bestows upon an artist. All the songs echo and reflect a shimmer of both dark and light, perhaps captured best in the twilight melancholy of the vocal delivery, at once sweetly sensitive, and always reflectively tinged with a knowing sadness.
This is her second album and the eleven new songs bear the sure touch of producer, Neilson Hubbard, who also contributes on drums, percussion, piano and vocals. He is joined by the superb talents of Will Kimbrough (guitars, banjo, mandolin), Dean Marold (bass guitar), and Fats Kaplin (pedal steel, violin, viola). Such intuitive players and always sensitive to the needs of each song; never over playing and always providing the appropriate touch to raise the song arrangements to new heights. The gorgeous melody of the title track is a prime example, with all the players very much in unison and delivering a sublime example of the joys contained here. Kelcy Wilburn (Kelcy Mae), contributes on vocals and guitar and her singular talent is clearly evident on songs such as Alone Tonight, with its gentle sway and a prayer to find solace, ‘And if you want to save me, Let your hands be light.’
Equally, the confessional theme of Wishing Well is a reflection on alcohol abuse and personal demons. It sounds more like self-punishment than any sense of a release; ‘I’ll never give up on that love that we held, And I’ll never stop drinking from this old wishing well.’ The song, Hymn, is a look at the world through the eyes of a girl growing into a woman and letting go of youthful dreams, while the opening track, Out Loud, has a celebratory feel of coming out of the darkness into a bright new day, with Lucy Cordts whistling, highlighting that sense of hopefulness. There is a touch of Natalie Merchant to the vocal tone on, What’s Gone Is Gone, a real highlight among the many gems here. Again, great ensemble playing from these gifted players, and a great dynamic in the arrangement.
The winsome sound of pedal steel on, Almost Home, is complimented by the mandolin and subtle guitar accompaniment, with the lead vocals drifting out across the lovely melody. Another personal song, This Cloud, tackles the issue of self-doubt and feelings of vulnerability, in coming to terms with who you are and growing into your own spirit. The final song, All I Want, is a statement of pushing to break down walls and letting others inside.
A lot of this album plays out like a “dear diary” entry but it is far from the adolescent scribbles of teenage angst. Instead, we are given entry to the world of a mature woman coming to terms with her own identity looking back to the past in order to gain valuable insights for the future and remaining vulnerable while the transformation evolves. Another very impressive release.
Review by Paul McGee