Derek Senn The Big Five - O Self Release
I don’t know about you but I thought I didn’t want to hear another song about Covid/quarantine/the pandemic, and then Derek Senn’s new album arrives and I’m happy to be drawn in, thanks to his eloquence, humanity and, above all, humour. There’s lots more to digest and enjoy though in the fourteen songs here (thirteen self penned and one cover), recorded once again with producer Damon Castillo in Laurel Lane Studios in Senn’s hometown of San Luis Obispo, California.
There are the short vignettes like Big in Britain, a hilarious fictional account of a solo tour that crisscrosses the UK erratically - ‘who put this tour together?/Me myself and I’ because ‘they like my Americana more than the Americanos’. The longer title track is a hilarious account of life as Senn turns 50, with his long-suffering family doing duty on backing vocals, as he lists the inevitable downsides of ageing, including giving up ‘meat alcohol and/pretty much everything that brings me joy/what’s for dinner oh boy more soy’. I feel his pain! The Vasectomy Waltz is equally amusing, and - public health warning - he leaves no holds barred in his attention to the gory details. So graphic is it that I am unable to quote any lyrics!
Maybe it’s because he’s getting older, but this album has more overtly politically charged songs than previously. Zeitgeist is a gentle satire on the two common types of voters in middle America - ‘a fair trade single origin queer living in Portland Oregon’ versus the ex-army prison guard who ‘hates the welfare state hence the Trump Pence sign on my fence’. On the short but incisive Addis Ababa, Senn compares the not very different scenarios of the depressing post-war fall out for two foot soldiers, one in Ethiopia and one in Ohio. Sequoia Tree laments (from the ancient tree’s perspective) the authorities’ bickering over environmental issues and fears ultimately that ‘if polite society fails and the park ranger bails/they’ll kill me and mill me they’ll fell me and sell me’. The musical backdrop of guitar, bass (Castillo) and drums (Jason Slota) jumps up a couple of gears for the angry Texas Legislators, written before the controversial Supreme Court decision on abortion, but leaving the listener in no doubt as to where Senn’s sympathies lie, ‘sounds like mullarkey from the patriarchy’ being one of the more benign lines.
The four quarantine-inspired gems vary from the funky science of Viruses Get Viruses, to reality biting in Quarantine, the John Prine referencing love song Trickle Down To Thee and the entertaining, tongue in cheek (I think?) Don’t Shut Down My Surfbreak.
Highly recommended.
Review by Eilís Boland
The Local Honeys Self-titled La Honda
Although this is not the first record from the Kentucky duo, Linda Jean Stokely (guitar and harmonium) and Montana Hobbs (banjo), they say that it is ‘the first time we’ve actively gotten to express who we are and where we’re from’. Fiercely proud of their home state, the influence of Kentucky - both musically and culturally - is all over this wonderful album, which is a rootsy country recording with strong folk leanings. They called on their fellow Kentuckian friend, Jesse Wells (Grammy nominated producer, and member of Tyler Childers’ band, the Food Stamps) to co-produce and the rest of the Food Stamps came in as players: Josh Nolan on guitars, Rod Elkins on drums and Craig Burletic on upright bass.
Each of the ten original songs is a delight. Last Mule In the Holler opens with some surreptitiously recorded dialogue from Hobbs’ father, Monte, about the subject of the song, The Red Rooster. Hobbs used to show mules and this infamous boy became a World Champion under her care, but he sure was a stubborn character, as the song affectionately details. Linda Jean Stokely contributes the harrowing Dead Horses, recalling some of the horses she has lost, and progressing to lamenting the current horse welfare crisis in the Southern Appalachians, where horses are being abandoned and are dying of starvation, thanks to poverty. If you haven’t guessed by now, equines are another huge theme on this album, and this is artfully reflected in the album design, with black & white photography of the duo and some of their horses, as well as lots of photos from the studio and a lyrics sheet.
The storytelling continues with The Ballad of Frank & Billy Buck, based on the true life tale of the grizzly murder of the elderly Frank and his unfortunate dog, Billy Buck, by some wayward youths who Frank had tried to help.
Stokley’s love of the Lonesome Dove series of novels by Larry McMurtry yields two songs; Dear Woodrow is given a retro Western Swing sound, helped by the addition of trumpet from guest Will Philips, while Dumbass, Nebraska also features horses heavily! Better Than I Deserve is a tribute to Hobbs’ grandfather, who led a fascinating life, truncated tragically by war.
Closeness to nature and a rural upbringing probably fuelled much of the earthy writing and themes on this album, none more so than on Stokely’s Throw Me In The Thicket ‘when I die’, a quote from her mother in earlier years which shocked Stokely at the time. However, she has now come around to agreeing with her mother’s philosophy, ‘let the earth reclaim my body/Let the worms devour my insides’. In the banjo-led If I Could Quit, Hobbs directly details the all too real opioid addiction that is rife in the Appalachians, ‘Crushing pills with coffee cups in a cigarette cellophane/Well I don’t trust no one to treat me and my pain’.
The only cover song is a hauntingly moving, eerily gothic version of local folk hero Jean Ritchie’s The L & N Don’t Stop Here Anymore, a classic song that chillingly calls attention to the dark legacy of strip mining in Kentucky.
A definite inclusion in my favourite records of 2022!
Review by Eilís Boland
Dead Horses Brady Street Self Release
Taking their name as a tribute to a close friend who passed away following chronic opioid abuse, the Milwaukee, Wisconsin duo Sarah Vos and Dan Wolff, together with a number of like-minded musicians, make up the band Dead Horses. BRADY STREET is their fourth full album, two of which were produced by Ken Coomer, who was a drummer with both Uncle Tupelo and Wilco in previous lives. Their last album, MY MOTHER THE MOON, released in 2018, earned the band numerous positive reviews, with Vos’ vocals being compared to that of both Neko Case and Caitlin Canty.
Vos describes this album as ‘a coming-of-age record, both musically and thematically.’ Its title is taken from the name of the colourful and vibrant street in Milwaukee, renowned for its lively nightlife. Landing somewhere in the space between indie and folk, the album often addresses its author’s personal journey. Sarah Vos writes the songs, delivers them with her distinctive vocal style, and plays guitar. Dan Wolff complements her vocals with atmospheric acoustic and upright bass. The arrangements are generally sparse, with drums being the only other instrument featured.
The opener and title track Brady Street captures the album’s overall mood. Exploring present day America and the challenges it poses, themes that emerge include sexuality (You Are Who You Need To Be), anxiety (Ok Kid), and regret (All I Ever Wanted To Be). Recorded live, the serene acoustic track Bird Over the Train speaks of liberation and escape, and the breezy and upbeat album highlight, It’s All Good, reminds us that darkness is always followed by brightness. A further prompt in the direction of positivity and rebirth, they sign off with the reflective rocker Days Grow Longer.
Broadly the sonic terrain here is indie folk. Bemoaning a world of ongoing problems and combining themes of joy and sadness, BRADY STREET will particularly and justifiably appeal to lovers of Anais Mitchell and The Cowboy Junkies.
Review by Declan Culliton
Will Hoge Wings On My Shoes Self Release
Readers of a particular vintage will recall that prior to the emergence of Americana and the subsequent scores of subgenres in contemporary music, we simply had rock and roll, pop, blues, folk, country, and jazz. And it didn’t take a science degree to place whatever you were listening to into one of these categories. You’re likely to find this album from Will Hoge in the Americana section of your favourite independent record store, but in essence WINGS ON MY SHOES, in a similar vein to Hoge’s previous eleven albums, is simply, in old speak, a rock and roll album, and a particularly good one at that.
Recreating the dynamic sound of his live shows, Hoge and his band, Thom Donovan (guitar), Christopher Griffiths (bass), and Allen Jones (drums), holed up for a week at Nashville's Sound Emporium Studios and recorded these self-produced ten tracks live on the studio floor.
Hoge has long since perfected the art of mixing standout rockers with more relaxed power ballads and he repeats that winning formula here. Thumping drums and bass lines, alongside crunching guitars and Hoge’s throaty vocals kick in from the word go on the opener John Prine’s Cadillac. Born from a sighting of Prine grooving to music in his car, it possesses a powerful drive and melody that instantly lands in your memory bank and is likely to be replaying there for some time. The foot is also full on the pedal with All I Can Take and the jangly power poppy It’s Just You. Less animated but every bit as impressive are Queenie, which finds Hoge paying homage to his grandmother and the reflective Birmingham. The mid-tempo Dead Man’s Hand channels bullish expectation, desperation and eventual tragedy.
Touching on the grinding reality of broken dreams, real-life drama, and life’s ongoing challenges, Hoge and his comrades have delivered a suite of songs that sit comfortably alongside each other and warrant playing uninterruptedly from start to finish.
Review by Declan Culliton
Freedy Johnston Back On The Road To You Forty Below
A much lauded songwriter and singer (Rolling Stone’s 1994 Songwriter Of The Year for the song Bad Reputation), Johnson has made some excellent albums in the past while working with a variety of major and indie labels and he has more than a dozen albums to his credit under his own name. He has just released this new album and it is well up to the standard of his previous best. Melodic, understated indie (power) pop with strong choruses and making use, as he has always done, of the best and most sympathetic sideman available to him. On this occasion, the production and mixing was handled by Eric Corne and the musicians include the rhythm section of Dusty Wakeman and David Raven, Doug Pettibone on lead and steel guitar and Sasha Smith on keyboards. In other words, some of California’s best roots musicians. Add to that some strings from Stevie Blacke on two tracks and the harmony vocals on a track each from Aimee Mann, Susan Cowsill and Susanna Hoffs and you have a formidable team, topped by Johnson’s lead and harmony vocals, songs, rhythm guitar.
The ten new songs are all written by Johnston and are centered around relationships. The opening title song repeats the title as an affirmation of a continuing situation. The next song up, There Goes A Brooklyn Girl, is another ambigious situation “There goes my baby / I just told her that's she's my number one / And she went ‘maybe’.” Madeline’s Eye is a standout, built around a strong riff and vocal chorus to portray a somewhat one-sided uncertain bond “Looking in Madeline's heart / … I see the problem right from the start.” These are observations from a man who has absorbed the ongoing interactions between the sexes. The remaining tracks follow a similar pattern of deftly written songs that marry the words ands melodies to string arrangements.
So Trying To Move On, The Power Of Love (another song that seeks to define that emotion and title) “See, if you've been around the universe / You know that everything runs on love,” That’s Life takes a view of life from a more grown up perspective, offering guidelines and practical advice “But it's way past time for you kids to be in bed / I better hear nothing when I shut off this light / Hey, that's life.” There are upbeat songs sitting alongside the more reflective songs that again contemplate age, love and the the barriers that may arise to being together.
Any Freedy Johnson fan, or simply a lover of this kind of dexterous writing will find pleasure here. A songwriter who continues to write because there is an inner need to put pen to paper (and there are a number of them who to continue to do so). But in the end, it is good to be back on the road with Mr. Johnson at the wheel.
Review by Stephen Rapid.
Martha Spencer Wonderland Self Release
With a background in acoustic mountain music and Appalachian music in her home in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Martha Spencer has just released a second album that has an attractive quirkiness to it. She has been influenced by such old-time icons as Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard, as well as by the diverse nature of Dolly Parton’s career, which itself included country and bluegrass as staples. There is a similarity in the the way her words recall the early music of Parton and the way it details a simple, yet satisfying, approach to life, even if it was one lived sometimes with hardship and difficulty but also, often, with love. She was a member of a number of bands such as the Blue Ridge Girls and Whitetop Mountain Band (who have several albums to their credit) and is a multi-instrumentalist (banjo, guitar, mandolin, upright bass, dulcimer and fiddle). So being immersed in many aspects of traditional music, as well as that being played by contemporary artists, she was well placed to produce this album with Wesley Easter.
As this album comes out under her own name and is a mix of original songs and public domain and cover songs, it manages to cover several side roads down from the mountain. Whilst I am aware of some of these songs, others of the outside material choices are like original songs. Of the known songs, Summer Wine, the often recorded duet, is given an interesting treatment that is well served by Kyle Dean Smith’s baritone vocal, which contrast well with the higher register of Spencer’s own voice. Also here are versions of Walking In Jerusalem and Wind And Rain, both given treatments that fit well with the new material.
These songs include the title song, which gives the listener a pretty fair idea of Spencer’s credentials, on through Rags Over Riches, You’ve Rambled Too Long, Young Rover and Yodeland - which is a little yodel, as the title would have you expect. All of these songs feel like they could have come from the old-time mountain music songbooks from many years ago, yet also seem well placed to be heard now.
Throughout the album, Spencer makes good use of harmony and duet vocals to bring an extra dimension to the songs. Fellow vocalists include Jonathan Ferrell, Jamie Collins, Dudley Connell, as well as the Legendary Ingramettes, Alice Gerrard and Luke Bell (an outstanding artist who recently unfortunately passed away). The playing is equally effective and pared back to essential contributions, that allow the songs to breath and tell their tales.
Whilst not being a particularly constant listener to bluegrass and old-time music, the occasional album catches the attention and draws you to its heart. I also feel that Spencer could (and perhaps should) make a straight country album. All the ingredients are here, in fact several of the songs could easily be recognised as such. The fact is that Spencer is an all round artist and entertainer, steeped in the music that emanated from her birthplace and it is in her soul. A wonderland of story and music that travels from there to a place that has resonance, well beyond the wind and rain there, to many other places.
Review by Stephen Rapid
Brian WilloughbyTwiddly Bits Cabritunes
Nineteen instrumental tracks can be considered something of a challenge. Perhaps, even an endurance test, especially if the artist is someone that is not internationally recognised, or featured regularly on the radio waves. Happily, nothing could be further from any such assumptions made when it comes to the very talented Brian Willoughby.
The information booklet that accompanies this elegantly packaged release contains a centre page spread of eighteen guitars, all of which were used in the recording process. The tunes are varied, taking in reflective melodies (Clara’s Theme), country influenced rhythms (Busterchops), blues phrasings (Kitesurfing) and an occasional rocky vibe (Red Steel Tracks) thrown in for good measure.
Brian is a very lyrical instrumentalist with an elegance and light touch across the frets, coupled with a lovely tone in his playing style. Never more so than on the beautiful Narrow Waterfall which captures all the gentle harmony of fluid movement contained in both water and beautiful melodic music. Another lovely arrangement is Buenos Suenos (good dreams), a tribute to the enduring memory of Nanci Griffith, an artist whom Brian played with on a number of occasions.
Brian uses keyboards to colour the instrumental arrangements on a number of the tracks, together with some very understated drumming parts by Dennis Bryon, bodhran by Niall Quinn, and whistle by Danny McGreevy. The very talented Cathryn Craig provides acoustic rhythm guitar on a further six tracks and their gently observed interplay is a delight on numbers such as White Stratosphere, The Point and Uisce Beatha.
Glenarm 1949 is a track written for Brian’s birthplace and he uses an e-bow to great effect to mirror a guitar sound that reminds me of the harmonics created by Brian May at his best. In other places (Peace Pipe), the easy fretboard technique calls to mind Mark Knopfler in the delivery and captures Brian’s ability to soar and compliment the rhythm with a less-is-more approach on solo runs.
Brian was a member of the wonderful Strawbs, darlings of the English Folk Rock circuit during the 1960s and into the 70s; and still performing to this day. He also played with Mary Hopkin at the start of her fame when first signed to the Beatles, Apple Records label.
Dunavil Beach is a timeless piece that reflects the gentle pull of nature, the sea and a soft breeze to take away your cares. The album ends with a fine guitar work-out on She Rang Our Bell, deep bass and percussion driving the beat, while the harmonics and interplay soar and swoop to dramatic effect.
This is a very fine collection of music that highlights a master of his craft over fifty- three magical minutes of impressive performance. Visit http://www.craigandwilloughby.com/index.htm for a full list of all releases by Cathyrn and Brian. Well worth your investment.
Review by Paul McGee
Jeff Finlin Soul On the Line Continental Song City
It’s been a few years since we last heard some new music from this well-travelled troubadour. Indeed, it was 2017 when his last collection, Guru In the Girl, was released and that album was co-produced by both Jeff and multi-talented musician/producer, BJ Baartmans, in Boxmeer, Holland. The duo played most of the instruments on what was a very atmospheric, laid-back, reflective groove of a record.
So, five years later, I’m happy to see Jeff returning, with ten new tracks and a focus on a bigger band sound. Recorded in Fort Collins, Colorado and produced by Jeff, who also wrote all the songs, this is a guitar driven project with a trio of Joe V McMahan, Eben Grace, and Eric Straumanis providing the impressive electric guitar sounds; ably supported in the engine room by Taylor Tesler (bass) and Finlin himself, who contributes on drums, piano, acoustic and electric guitar, percussion and vocals. Add in the accordion and horns of Brian Keller and you have the ingredients for an album that really cuts loose.
Starting with the title track, a big production number, the horn sounds add a soulful groove, and Finlin announces his return as a born-again rocker. Wondering What Went Wrong is another full sonic attack that includes an engaging horn sound to reflect the band dynamic. Bardo Time slows the pace on an interesting arrangement, with reference to the Tibetan phrase that means the period between dying and rebirth. It gives a sense of how Finlin was feeling during the Covid lockdown days. The addition of harmonica on the track is particularly effective.
The sassy attitude continues with a stripped-down, Springsteen-sounding, The Great Divide, with Finlin providing a fine vocal that channels a street-cool persona and a less-is-more strut; reflecting the easy flow of a rhythm n’ blues groove.
Turn This Cadillac Around is a standout, all small- town American getaway and a rebel attitude in breaking away from the confining reality of rural cul-de-sacs. It’s movie screen imagery, dust on the highway, greasy breakfast joints and sleazy late-night diners reflected in the delivery.
Misery Man is another fine song, with a Tom Petty sounding workout and a sharp band delivery, before the slow groove of Tennessee Rain introduces a John Hiatt dynamic to colour the laid-back arrangement and a message of love in vain. My favourite track on this album, the restrained, rhythm complements the song message perfectly.
Round In the Circle is a reflection on repeating the same mistakes and not growing from the experiences, ‘ And it’s one step up and two steps down my friend, Our big old hearts hung out to dry in the wind.’ Written In the Stars is a slow melody that reflects on relationships and impressions that linger, maybe everything is predestined and our paths are indeed fated to follow our specified fates.
Final song, Hearts On High, shows Finlin reflecting on the transience of beauty and the stillness of inner reflection. There is a peace in letting the personal walls come down. Thirty-eight minutes of thoughts from an experienced songsmith. Album number fourteen and no sign of hanging up the guitar yet. His books on Yoga and addiction recovery are also out there, along with three books of prose. It’s a very solid return with some excellent musicianship on display. Consistently colourful in many ways, the sum is definitely a reflection of the parts, some great dynamics and a considered assurance.
Review by Paul McGee
Concrete Prairie Self-Titled Good Deeds
Ten songs from a band who are based in the beautiful city of Bath, England. Their sound is a mix of traditional Folk influences and a modern take on what could be dubbed “Anglo-cana.” The group comprises Joe Faulkner (lead vocals, guitar, harmonica), Adam Greeves (vocals , guitar, mandolin, harmonica), Dan Burrows (vocals, bass, banjo), Georgia Browne (fiddle), and Tom Hartley (drums).
This debut album was produced by John Reynolds (Peter Gabriel, U2), giving some justification to the media attention that this band is gathering. No doubt they have had to endure the occasional comparison to Mumford and Sons, if only because they too are based in England, but their colour palette runs to deeper hues and shades.
Kicking things off with Picking Up Pieces, the album opens with a blending of fiddle and harmonica into a sweet melody that looks at the role that new parenthood brings, ‘Take my hand and we’ll dance through the darkness, When it falls.’
The gorgeous melody on I Wish You Well has the band playing in sweet unison, the brushed drumming very much in the pocket and nudging the song arrangement to increasing heights, ‘Time is borrowed, And time can be cruel, If there’s time for tomorrow, I wish you well, Annabelle.’
Bury My Blues is a nice jaunty work-out with Bluegrass leanings in the arrangement. Lyrical fiddle again to the fore, but hiding a message that references self-harm and facing the darkness by taking one day at a time. Hard Times follows and also refers to dark days and a foreboding sense of danger. The arrangement is suitably edgy with electric guitar expressing the pain of self-doubt and uncertainty.
Day By Day has another light and bright sound, with a message that living for the moment brings fair reward and worrying about what may unfold is a waste of energy and time, ‘When this old world’s in such a damn hurry, I leave behind my woes and worries.’ People Forget is a song about the painful topic of addiction, with an accusing finger pointed at a parent who let the family down, ‘You stole my youth, stretched the truth, It’s too little and it’s too late, The very least you could do is stand by your mistakes.’
Time To Kill revolves around a knife crime and the killing resulting in crossing over to the dark side. ‘The pinnacle of criminal is where seeds are sown, In the dark, in the wild, wild rain, I’m the devil’s disciple now.’ Fiddle soars throughout and there is some atmospheric electric guitar too.
Wine On My Mind is a song that tackles alcoholism and the refuge that addiction gives, albeit temporary in relief. It is well written and stark in imagery. There is great drumming and fiddle to drive this song and the lyric ‘Wine, whiskey, cocaine and gin, Picked my poison and let it win.’
Winter Town is about loneliness in a seaside town and the high price paid for being stuck in a rut. The song has a bleak ending and the reflection that ‘He’s a summer guy in a washed-out winter town.’
The final track, The Devil Dealt the Deck, is a song about getting bad breaks and trying to reconcile what fate decrees, ‘ If the devil’s in the details, Where do I stand? I’m never going to make it to the promised land.' Although a lot of the subject matter leans towards the darker side of our nature, focusing on the negatives in life doesn’t mean that you can’t see beyond the pain – it takes the darkness of night in order to clearly see the stars after all…
The engaging fiddle of Georgia Browne adds an extra edge throughout, and this proves to be a very interesting debut album, filled with inventive playing and tight song arrangements, strong song-writing and a real sense of the dynamic required to propel the band forward. An album that is well worth your attention.
Review by Paul McGee