The Shootouts Stampede Self Release
It is good to have the Shootouts back with a new album and relatively quickly after the release of the Chuck Mead produced Bullseye, in 2021. The band look and act the part with a certain sense of style but not at the expense of a certain humour. This makes them visually, as well as audibly, fans of the tenets of traditional country music. It is somewhat surprising that they haven’t been signed up by a more adventurous major label, as they certainly could fulfil the role that both BR549 and The Derailers had when they were signed to major labels. Now that there are signs that there is a wish for more authentic exponents of the form, it would seem an interesting opportunity for the band and record company.
That said, the reason for that thought is the strength of the performances, material and production offered on this new album. It is helmed by Asleep At The Wheel’s Ray Benson and Sam Seifert. While there are numerous high profile guests joining in it is true to say that they never overshadow the band’s own talents. Often, these musicians add some instrumental zest to the recordings and when they are bringing their individual strengths as vocalists, it is not at the expense of the band’s vocals. Benson sings on the most obviously Western Swing moment here which is One Step Forward. Marty Stuart, Buddy Miller, Raul Malo and Jim Lauderdale all add some harmony vocals or instrumental licks.
But the band: Ryan Humbert on guitar and vocals, vocalist Emily Bates, lead guitarist Brian Posten (who gets a chance to show his skills on the instrumental Run For Cover) and bassist Kevin McManus are reaching new heights on many fronts. They are also joined by regular contributors Dylan Gomez on drums, Ryan McDermott on bass and, a man who has acted as mentor for some time, Al Moss (a former mainstay of a great band Hillbilly Idol) on pedal steel and guitar. There is also some brass and fiddle set loose to add appropriate texture as required - most likely from members of Asleep At The Wheel.
The Shootout are proven exponents of the various types of country music that matter, from honky-tonk, Bakersfield California country, bar-room ballads and border music, through to Western Swing with some of the Rust Belt music that they have grown up with thrown in. It is the music they love to listen to and music they want to play - and that shows.
The album mixes original songs with some covers such as I’ll Never Need Anyone More written by the late Ohio rocker Michael Stanley who originally recorded it in an uptempo version. He also did it acoustically and that is what they built this version from, with Raul Malo adding his distinctive voice to it. They have, in the past, turned a number of well-known non-country songs into viable honky-tonkers, something that says a lot about their devotion to their chosen genre.
Make no mistake, at this early part of the year, this is one of the best real country albums you will hear this year and one that might hopefully start some kind of stampede from others who will equally want to hear more of this quality of music.
Review by Stephen Rapid
Helene Cronin Landmarks Self Release
The title of the album tells what these songs might pertain to and be. Songs that draw from personal and wider experience, written to distill Cronin’s thoughts on where she is in her life today and that of the world around her. A self described “story-singer” she is an accomplished songwriter who, from the credits, mainly co-writes with other similar-minded collaborators. The other factor at play here is the relationship she has with producer Matt King (who also produced her last album OLD GHOSTS & LOST CAUSES which itself was a well-received album) and the assembled players. Together they surrounded themselves with some notable players, whose names are always a big attention getter for this writer, such as Kenny Vaughan, Bobby Terry, Byron House, Jerry Roe and King himself.
The songs are well arranged with plenty of light and shade but are also capable of packing a punch when required. There is an across the board sense of open honesty to share what can be learned from life. This is sometimes done by taking in the perspective of others, as well as those she has encountered herself, on her own path.
The convincing, alluring ballad Halfway Back To Knoxville has some steel guitar that skilfuly underpins a journey that has Cronin joined by a harmony vocalist, who helps to give the song’s subtlety an added poignance. Make The Devil asks “why do good things happen to bad people?” and surmises that maybe the devil holds sway while posing the question whether he was a needed entity at all. A single voice is used to envision the different aspects of being a woman through the ages - mostly in difficult and men dictated situations. Just A Woman builds toward the end with a chorus from fellow artists Wendy Moten, Heidi Newfield, Shelly Fairchild and Vicki Hampton to bring a sense of group empowerment.
What Do You Lean On? asks that question of others as well as of herself. It takes a heavier tone with Vaughan’s guitar giving it the edge from the start. It is in fact something that throughout the album these players excel in, giving the songs a convincing and creative sense of purpose that makes the album one deserving of repeat listening. Your Cross calls for a need for some salvation, a theme that also is a part of What They Didn’t Build, reasoning that tearing down is easier that building up. Taking a more countrified approach is the road song Between Me And The Road, which stands out for its insistent beat and twangified elements. Cross That River is more acoustic, with banjo prominent, and has a uplifting gospel feel. Gentler is the love song You Do, in which one’s own faults and strengths are measured against another’s, often allowing that another’s ability is better. The use of cello here is effective.
This is a mature album with a balance between the central voice, the playing, and the responsive production. This shows a solid growth since the debut album and that Cronin deserves to be viewed alongside some of her better know contemporaries as a contender.
Review by Stephen Rapid
Cowboy Dave Venture South Self Release
Nebraska native Dave Wilson (Cowboy Dave to you and me) is a lover of all things related to the Old West and has been inspired by the late author and painter Will James, turning a phase of his into a song. That song Guts And A Horse quotes from James’ credo that a working cowboy is “a man with guts and a horse”. After a couple of previous eps this is Dave’s first full length album. It’s a homage to the American West, of various eras. It was recorded both in Colorado and in Texas. In the former he brought together some adherents of the Bakersfield Sound (a major influence) for two tracks featuring Jay Dee Maness on pedal steel, Eugene Moles who worked with Merle Haggard on guitar and former Dwight Yoakam sideman, Jim Christie on drums. While in the Dripping Springs Studio he had another set of top notch pickers in Tommy Detamore, Hank Singer on fiddle, drummer Andy Sweetser, bassist Scott Johnson and guitarist Zach Boddicker. The latter two also added vocals alongside Kristina Murray and Loren Dorland. The production duties came from John Macy.
Cowboy Dave wrote the songs (two of which were co-writes), played acoustic guitar and provided the pleasing vocals. He once fronted a cow-punk band, FortyTwenty, which makes sense given the energy and commitment that he brings to this latest work. The relationship with punk comes across in that both genres (of the hardcore variety) are direct, honest and heartfelt.
287 is a drivin’ home song with steel and fiddle and Telecaster well in evidence - as it should be. Honky Tonk Hot Sauce is what he serves up straight at whatever venue he might be gracing. Sandhill Girl takes things slower to tell us about a girl who may have moved away, but in her heart has never lost her love of her home place.This Kind Of Living tells of the way many try to keep family and home together by traveling and playing music.
Next up features Kristina Murray, you may get a feel for the song from its title Cruel, Cruel Queen. Again we are given some substance from the steel and twangin’ guitars. The two voices give their side of the story and work well together. As you might also expect alcohol plays its part too, with the thoughtful Whiskey Tonight which has one of Cowboy Dave’s most assured vocals that gives the ballad a deeper resonance. We’re back up to speed then with the dumped by his gal lyric of Skunk Yodel No 7, which indeed has a touch of that vocal style. It has an extend yodel outro that works a treat.
Back on the highway in truckin’ mode again is the tale of a mother trucker that is Mama Drove A Big Rig ,putting the Telcaster, fiddle and steel to good use again. Very much in the Marty Robbins mode is the aforementioned Guts And A Horse, another memorable song from Wilson that is enhanced by the border mood of Gabriel Mervin’s trumpet. Definitely an album highlight. The final track uses one the of repeat dictates that you will “never be a prophet in your own home town”. That expression gives the song its title. But whether that’s true for Cowboy Dave, he has delivered an album that is worthy of attention whatever town its music reaches.
Review by Stephen Rapid
The Whiskey Charmers On The Run Sweet Apple Pie
The Detroit based Whiskey Charmers continue their run of successful Americana albums with their fourth offering, ON THE RUN. Carrie Shepard (vocals and acoustic guitar) wrote all ten original songs, and is joined throughout by her partner Lawrence Daversa, who plays electric and steel guitars, as well as contributing backing vocals behind Carrie’s rich and mellow voice.
Opening with the countrified sad song, Nobody Cares, we then stray into blues rock territory with the murder ballad, Billy, where, unusually, the female protagonist shoots dead her controlling partner in self defence when she tries to leave. There’s more than a touch of Rory Gallagher in the lead guitar playing of Daversa on this and many other of the songs, which can be no bad thing, in this reviewer’s book. The futility of longing for a lost love is paralleled with the hopelessness of panning for gold in an old mining town in the wistful Gold, and Lawrence also turns to his pedal steel for The Devil’s Rodeo, another tale of surviving lost love through gritted teeth.
The duo are joined by Brian Ferriby (drums), David Roof (keyboards), and Daniel Ozzie Andrews on bass.
It has to be said that this record strays more into rock territory than the last album, 2020’s LOST ON THE RANGE, which we reviewed here. Definitely worth checking out
Review by Eilís Boland
Brit Taylor Kentucky Blue Cut A Shine
The State of Kentucky can boast more than its fair share of blue-chip country royalty. Departed household names of yesteryear like Loretta Lynn, Tom T. Hall and Keith Whitley, and living artists Chris Stapleton, Dwight Yoakam and Ricky Skaggs immediately spring to mind. The more recent crop of contenders includes Sturgill Simpson and Tyler Childers, both fiercely devoted to classic country music and not behind the door in calling out the cannibalism of the genre, in recent years, on good old Music Row in Nashville.
The most recent ‘likely to succeed’ of that talented bunch is Brit Taylor, whose breakthrough album THE REAL ME (2020) turned a lot of industry heads and featured in many ‘Best of the Year’ listings. All the more impressive was that Taylor ignored the Music Row rulebook, withdrawing from her songwriting deal (‘I’d rather clean shitty toilets than write shitty songs any longer’) and independently financing that album at a time when she was also overcoming a failed marriage. That collection of songs included Bobby Gentry-type 60s classic pop, alongside some more traditional country tunes. For KENTUCKY BLUE she hooked up with Sturgill Simpson and David Ferguson for the production duties and co-wrote with a number of writers including Jason White, Adam Wright, and Pat McLaughlin. The result is a more upbeat and certainly more ‘country’ record, laced with fiddles, accordion, pedal steel, piano breaks and banjo in all the right places, bringing to mind Tyler Childers’ excellent album, COUNTRY SQUIRE. A listen to jaunty tracks such as Anything But You, Ain’t A Hard Livin and Cabin In The Woods immediately draws that comparison.
Toe-tapping and joyous in musical content, it also reinforces Taylor’s skillset as a songwriter. Rich Little Girls is a clever dig at the young privileged classes swanning around Nashville, no doubt noted by the writer as she worked endless hours and numerous menial jobs to kickstart her career. It’s not all foot full down on the gas, Taylor also includes a number of sweet-sounding ballads. Love’s Never Been That Good To Me is a countrypolitan gem in that regard and the title track is equally tuneful.
Taylor has bravely distanced herself from the lucrative pop/country mainstream genre and has channelled traditional country down a modern path with KENTUCKY BLUE. An excellent project on all fronts, with top-class vocals, stellar playing, slick production and no-nonsense songs, it ticks all the boxes. She may not be as close to the mainstream as Miranda Lambert or Kacey Musgraves, but if there’s any justice, she’ll be gracing the same stages as them in the not-too-distant future.
Review by Declan Culliton
Iris DeMent Workin’ On A World Flariella
With a career that has stretched over three decades, revered singer songwriter Iris DeMent has released seven albums, the latest being WORKIN’ ON A WORLD. That may not necessarily suggest a prolific output but in the case of the fourteenth-born child of Pat DeMent and his wife Flora Mae, quality has consistently won over quantity.
Thirty-one years after the release of her debut album INFAMOUS ANGEL, DeMent remains a most passionate author of songs that pioneer her steadfast commitment to human rights and environmental matters. Musically this latest addition to her impressive catalogue is not a radical departure from SING THE DELTA (2012), combining piano lead ballads and fuller-sounding compositions, all presented with her characteristic vocal style.
The impetus for the album can be traced back to the presidential elections of 2016. Considering the state of the modern world at that juncture, DeMent returned to songwriting as a personal distraction from the progressing social injustice and random violence at the time. The album’s title track outlines DeMent’s state of mind at that precise time (‘The world I took for granted was crashing to the ground and I realized I might not live long enough to ever see it turn around’). The upbeat free and fiery treatment on the track may be in contrast to its subject matter, but DeMent’s writing has consistently attempted to seek positivity over negativity in her output.
Written over a six-year period, other pertinent issues such as climate change and the pandemic generated additional ammunition for the thirteen-track album. The project was actually stalled during the pandemic and may not have seen the light of day without the prompting and support of Pieta Brown, who together with being a musician, producer and multi-instrumentalist, is also DeMent’s stepdaughter from her marriage to Greg Brown. During lockdown Pieta sought out the songs already written and essentially shelved and on hearing them responded enthusiastically to DeMent ‘You have a record and it’s called Workin’ On A World!’ The final songs were duly written and the album was recorded in Nashville in April 2022.
The issue of gun control and those courageous enough to call out the thorny subject is tackled head-on in Goin’ Down To Sing In Texas (‘I’m going down to sing in Texas where anybody can carry a gun. But we will all be so much safer there, the biggest lie under the sun’). The Sacred Now is a co-write with Pieta Brown, both having individually written verses for the song during lockdown. Overflowing with devotion and conviction, the hymn-like Let Me Be Your Jesus is conveyed with a whispered vocal delivery and mournful trumpet in the background.
DeMent fondly recalls peace activist Rachel Corry and civil rights leader John Lewis on Warriors of Love, commending them for their unflinching stances in the face of adversity and how they were ‘willing to risk an early ride in a hearse.’ Fuelled by a mellow horn section and tingling piano, the song simply brims with energy, recalling Van Morrison’s chirpy sound on his INTO THE MUSIC album. A similar sentiment and musical direction follows on How Long, with Marin Luther King name checked on the appropriately titled song. Taking a break from the more ethical subject matter on the album, twangy vocals and a vibrant rhythm section take shape on the six and a half minutes full-on blues track Walkin’ Daddy. The album closes in fine style with Waycross, Georgia.
A delightfully accessible listen by a unique talent whose writing consistently embraces a ‘moment in time’ of American modern life. Thought-provoking yet unassuming and refined, WORKIN’ ON A WORLD explores its perilous subject matter with coherence and positivity to perfection.
Review by Declan Culliton
Mackenzie Roark Rollin’ High, Feelin’ Low Vocal Rest
We’re slightly late to the party with a review of this debut full-length album from Richmond, Virginia artist Mackenzie Roark, released late last year. Thankfully it did not pass us by as it’s yet another prime example of a slightly off the radar artist, producing raw country/roots music of the highest standard.
It follows on from Roark’s 2016 EP MOTHER TONGUE and although it only runs for thirty minutes and eight tracks, quality wins over quantity. Titles such as Drunk Again, Wasting Away, Little Pills and the title track are pointers to the theme running through the album. They also suggest a writer pouring out her heart and soul rather than one sitting in a songwriters round from nine to five and clocking out with a formulaic book of lyrics.
Roark puts her cards on the table from the get-go, kicking off the album in rocking style with the confessional and unapologetic Highways I’ve Been On (‘trying to be a good woman makes a bad girl go insane’). In keeping with the truthfulness contained across the album, she also lays bare psychological vulnerabilities, closing the record with Little Pills (‘tell me that I’m crazy when I need little pills’).
A tangled love affair is the driver on Sweet Thing, a gorgeous track with Roark’s raw country vocal backed by some sweet banjo picking and nimble fiddle. It tells a tale of a probably doomed relationship and leaves the listener reflecting whether the reconciliation sought by the writer ever comes to fruition. In fact, because the various tracks on the album work so well collectively, it is easy to assume that the character in Drunk Again and Wasted is the distanced lover in Sweet Thing.
Whether Roark is writing from personal experience or otherwise, the songs unfold with a savage intensity. Her earthy and twangy vocals are well matched by deft musicianship by her band members, with the rugged guitar playing particularly standout.
ROLLIN’ HIGH, FEELIN’ LOW is another potent reminder of the immense talent out there, making music that is unlikely to get the coverage and recognition it richly deserves. Few things are more pleasing for us at Lonesome Highway than discovering talent previously unknown to us, Makenzie Roark qualifies in that regard with flying colours.
Review by Declan Culliton
Mary Elizabeth Remington In Embudo Loose
Singer-songwriter, part-time stonemason and painter, Mary Elizabeth Remington’s introduction to live performance came about ten years ago when she took to the stages at the Kerrville Folk Festival. A decade later and the Hardwick, Massachusetts native has recorded her debut album.
Remington was raised in a log cabin with her parents and brother in Massachusetts and, not surprisingly, avoided the confines of a recording studio for this project. The songs were recorded live to tape in a cabin along the Rio Grande in Embudo, Mexico, in the company of her long-time friend Adrianne Lenker of the Brooklyn folk-rock band Big Thief, who contributes backing vocals. Lenker’s colleague in Big Thief, Mat Davidson and James Krivchenia from the band Twain, who also acted as engineer, added the sparse instrumentation on a number of tracks. Other selections are performed a capella, Green Grass and the soothing paean Mother, being particularly imposing in this format. The marriage of Remington and Lenker’s vocals is heavenly on the unrequited love song and standout song Dresser Hill.
The finished project, with its low-key arrangements, criss-crosses from folk to country and world music, akin to a modern-day field recording, with overlays or overdubs not considered. Giggles from both vocalists are left unedited and the sound of falling rain adds ambience to the wistful Water Song.
The album’s title is taken from the recording location, with Remington noting that ‘The dry desert air and vast clay coloured landscape brought inspiration and calmness to the process of creating music together.’ Attentive listens are the order of the day on an album that casts its spell far and wide and reveals increasingly more with each ensuing visit.
Review by Declan Culliton
Stuffy Shmitt Cherry Realistic
‘The music biz is nearly impossible to negotiate these days. Forget it. I'm done worrying about it. I just want to have fun making music with my friends,’ explains Stuffy Shmitt, recalling the motivation to record CHERRY, his latest record that follows on from his eclectic and hugely enjoyable album STUFF HAPPENS released three years ago.
Very much part of the thriving underground music scene in East Nashville, Shmitt brought his New York street-punk attitude to Music City when he relocated there nearly a decade ago. He didn’t have to search too far for like-minded spirits in Music City, particularly on the Eastside. Within a stone’s throw of his front yard, there were numerous well-matched individuals scratching out a living playing or producing more contemporary music in Nashville but who, like Shmitt, were in their element working on more eccentric projects. Among those acquaintances is Dave Coleman (Amelia White, Tim Carroll, Dean Owens, Minton Sparks), who produced and recorded CHERRY at his Howard’s Apartment Studio in Inglewood, East Nashville. Coleman also played guitar on the album; the others players included Chris Tench on guitar and a rhythm section of Parker Hawkins on bass and Dave Colella on drums.
Shmitt’s 2020 release, STUFF HAPPENS, revisited old haunts and old flames in the writers’ previous lives, more often than not without anything approaching fond memories. Tracks like She’s Come Unglued, Jim’s Dad, Mommy and Daddy and The Last Song may, on initial listen, read like fictitious episodes laced with black comedy. However, given the passionate vocal deliveries, on subsequent listens a darker picture of home truths emerged.
Although, like its predecessor, CHERRY finds Shmitt flirting between soulful mid-tempo ballads and manic rockers, the author is in a less introspective and more playful mindset than on that last record. Laced with witticisms and no end of double meanings - the opening track The Man In The Boat is a chant derived from the female orgasm - there’s no end of groove alongside the wicked humour on the eight tracks featured. With a liveliness that captures the sounds of both The Ramones and X, Billy Kilowatt is a two-and-a-half-minute manic journey and the high-spirited and playful The Hard On Polka is probably as near as a love song Shmitt is ever going to pen. (’if you see her drink a bottle of Budweiser, you’ll dream about it ‘till your dying day’). Having said that, there are more sombre moments, Shmitt fondly recalls his deceased younger brother Danny - he played drums with John Hiatt - on the funky Little Brother and 100 Shotguns is a nostalgic recollection of madcap days in a former life.
An album loaded with positive energy; readers acquainted with Shmitt’s back catalogue will lap this up. Others, unfamiliar with his work, should crank those headphones up to full volume and get on board for the ride. Satisfaction guaranteed.
Review by Declan Culliton