Suzy Bogguss Prayin’ For Sunshine Loyal Duchess
The career of country artist Suzy Bogguss reads like a movie script. Born in small-town Aledo, Illinois, she sang in a church choir at five years old, was crowned homecoming queen in her teens, sang and played guitar and drums in her college years, where she earned a degree in metalsmithing, before moving to Nashville in 1985 to follow her dream. That move led to the distinction of being the first female performer at Dolly Parton’s Silver Dollar City theme park (later to be re-named Dollywood) and a career that, to date, has yielded Grammy and CMA awards, an appearance at The White House and numerous songwriting credits.
Though recorded during the pandemic, PRAYIN’ FOR SUNSHINE is anything but downbeat and despairing and says so much about an artist who oozes positivity. Recorded and mixed by Bogguss’ husband of 37 years, Doug Crider, at their home studio in Franklin, remarkably, it’s her first album where she is credited on all the songs, several of which are co-writes with Doug. Her two previous albums, AMERICAN FOLK SONGBOOK (2011) and LUCKY (2014), found her recording material written by others, the latter being a collection of Merle Haggard’s songs. Her latest album finds her in buoyant form, working her delicate vocals across songs that celebrate friendship, optimism and worldly matters.
Hardly a note or a line is wasted, from the breezy opener It All Falls Down To The River, which details some of the bitter pills about life in America, to the gentle love-ballad Can You Still See Me Like which bookends the album. The former includes soulful harmonies from the McCrary sisters, who, among numerous other friends of Bogguss’ (husband Doug, son Ben, Courtney Patton, Kelley Mickwee, Craig Smith, Jason Eskridge), contribute backing vocals on the album. The core players on the recordings were Pat Bergeson (acoustic guitar, mandolin), Chris Brown (drums, percussion), Colin Linden (electric guitar, dobro, mandolin) and Glenn Worf. Guests and close friends Chris Scruggs, Harry Stinson, Charlie Chadwick and Jimmy Wallace are all credited with contributions. Writing and playing guitar with her husband during the lockdown, which at that time was a means of passing the time for Bogguss, became the motivation to write and self-produce the album.
The divine road song, Sunday Birmingham, is up there with anything Bogguss has written. The light-hearted, jazzy A Woman Who Cooks was written parallel to Bogguss’ first venture into the literary world with a cookery book that she recently completed. Other highlights are the jaunty country rocker Gps and Camille, written with Gretchen Peters and Matraca Berg, which tells the story of a despairing prostitute. Recalling her younger years, Paint The Town Blue pays homage to life in small-town America.
In a similar vein to her peers and kindred spirits Gretchen Peters and Rosanne Cash, Suzy Bogguss's late-career writing is very much from the heart, without any industry interference or influence. She has hit the bullseye with this delightful and thought-provoking recording by applying her charming country-edged vocals across a suite of tender and intimate songs. It’s a listen guaranteed to create a bit of sunshine even on the darkest of days.
Review by Declan Culliton
The Felice Brothers Asylum On The Hill Self-Release
The Felice Brothers’ indifference to commerciality, trends and the business end of the music industry has always been close to the surface, and this album further emphasises that attitude. Described by Ian Felice as ‘a collection of songs about magical automobiles, various deformities of the heart and mind, red geraniums that have grown monstrously large and powerful, and other such themes,’ ASYLUM ON THE HILL arrived unannounced and independently released, via Bandcamp only on 15th December of 2023.
The album was produced by multi-instrumentalist jazz player Nate Wood and recorded in the band’s studio/converted church in Harlemville, New York State in May of last year. Its twelve tracks more than match the excellence of their two previous records, FROM DREAM TO DUST (2021) and UNDRESS (2019), further reinforcing their mantle as the standout band legitimately representing the Americana genre. The band’s lineup, Ian and James Felice, Jesske Hume and Will Lawrence, has remained unchanged since the recording of UNDRESS, and it’s no coincidence that, in this writer’s opinion, they have recorded their finest output and excelled in the live setting over the past four years.
Music that has connections to both the present and the past, the opener Candy Gallows, with its hymn-like intro, is a surreal tale which charts a late-night ghostly graveyard encounter. The simply gorgeous title track speaks of the devastation during World War II, written from inside the four walls of an asylum (‘The papers say that Germany has invaded Poland, there’s nothing we can do but sit and pray’). Strawberry Blond, though somewhat more playful and upbeat, also harks back to yesteryear (‘Let’s do dinner and a double feature; first it’s El Dorada, then Creatures From The Black Lagoon’). When Susie Was A Skeleton is a knees-up and light-hearted romp, and they return to matters that are more burdensome on the love song on Bird Of The Wild West. James Felice takes the lead vocal on Abundance, and the horrors of war and its aftermath are expressed on the album’s closer What Will You Do Now. Skeletal and featuring only vocals and piano, it’s a fitting final statement on an album that challenges the listener to make their own interpretations of the songs.
A stunning showcase in its lyrical content, vocal deliveries and instrumentation, had ASYLUM ON THE HILL been released earlier in 2023, it would most certainly have featured highly in my favourite albums of 2023. The good news is that there is more on the way, as the band are due to release another album later this year. Bring it on.
Review by Declan Culliton
Diane Coll Old Ghosts Happy Fish
‘Old Ghosts is my own journey through some old haunts. In the end, there was great healing, away from the external world and back to the internal world,’ explains Atlanta-based singer-songwriter Diane Coll, recalling the springboard that led her to write and record her second album, OLD GHOSTS. A professional mental therapist, by her admission Coll applies songwriting as a means of inner and cognitive healing.
Her recording career dates back to the 90s when she recorded CLAIRVOYANCE with the band Rosary, which she fronted. Two and a half decades later, she released her debut solo album in 2022, HAPPY FISH (and OTHER DELIGHTS), the title of which was inspired by Coll finding a goldfish in a metal pot and re-housing it in a glass fish bowl. With her appetite for songwriting truly reignited, OLD GHOSTS follows hot on the heels of that record.
Co-produced by Coll with Grammy-nominated producer and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Groover (Macy Gray, Snoop, Col. Bruce Hampton), song titles like I Don’t Know, Slipping Away, and This Heart might suggest a challenging listen. However, the emphasis slants towards positivity and acceptance, given its inward-looking and contemplative beginnings. Coll's crystal-clear vocals are supported by sympathetic playing by Daniel Groover, who plays slide and bass guitar, keys and percussion. He also, alongside Nancy Moore and Bryan Shumate, provides backing vocals.
Described by Coll as her ‘dark night of the soul song’, Glow, Candlelight is a standout track; its gentle and relaxed vibe is replicated on both When You Fly and Before The Sun. In contrast, her more edgy and spikey side reveals itself in the semi-spoken I Don’t Know before she returns to a calmer sound on the reflective and self-cleansing closer Love Pt.11.
A meditation on life’s problems and an album filled with personal insight, OLD GHOSTS sensitively confronts anguish and fulfilment head-on.
Review by Declan Culliton
Ray Scott Billboards & Brake Lights Self Release
A consummate practitioner of the traditions of some real country music, this album has brought Scott to a place where his music defines who he is. To get the album sounding real and authentic to the spirit of the music he loved, he worked with veteran producer Jim “Moose” Brown and a skilled set of players that included Jenee Fleenor on fiddle and mandolin and Eddie Bayers on drums. That traditional structure was the bedrock on which he built his own career. On that was imbued both heart and passion. Among his biggest direct influences was his father’s choice of music that was likely played at home when he was growing up and which sowed the seeds that have now grown. Previously, he released last year an album that took a more fun approach than on this release - WRONG SONGS: Musings From The Shallow End. It is a side of country music that has long been a part of the genre, often know as the “novelty song.” However, here we have songs that, as expressed in the opening track Ripples, consider where he is today and he comes to the realisation that he needs to take a chance on achieving his dream and making a few “ripples in the pond.”
Next up, he considers his mortality and reflects on his life at a time when his body will be lying peacefully in the back of a Long Black Cadillac. Better Than This looks inward to the distorted sense that, at time, taking ones life might seem like an option even when it really is not the answer and that he has the ability to change his life and improve it. A strong sense of reminiscence is also central to Old Roads & Old Friends, a memory of the small details that are part and parcel of what life is. More upbeat is the loving sentiment of detailing the small things that make his partner the centre of his life, and that each time he realises that I Fall In Love With You Again. The road, playing gigs and the necessity for long hours of travel and separation is covered in the title song, meeting people, hanging out but having, inevitably, to move on and continue with that routine and lifestyle. The Loner follows a similar thought process, though not always by choice.
But this is balanced by songs like Keeper which focuses on a person who is just that. The closing song I’ll See You Again is a heartfelt song relating to the loss of his father but understanding that it is a relationship that is not over.
Throughout there are some righteous steel and twangy Telecaster moments that underline the overall sentiments of the songs. All are bolstered by Scott’s deep, distinctive, warm and inviting voice which shows a progression and sense of depth that all his previous recordings and live experiences have helped to cohere into a memorable delivery. Nor should his skill as a writer be ignored, either solo or as a co-writer. On six of the thirteen tracks he is joined by other writers, which adds to the perspective of the material, allowing another viewpoint on a particular theme.
Scott is not standing still with his music and is not afraid to explore its range without ever making a song that would be considered to sit outside the parameters of traditional country music. He is a vital part of a, thankfully, growing number of performers who remain true to their heritage and are not going to be confused with either the ever expanding and often meaningless Americana label, or that which the mainstream still promotes. Ray Scott has made an album that is a testament to his life, love and literate nature, one that doesn’t need a billboard to tell you how good it is.
Review By Stephen Rapid
Reed Brake Visions and Dreams Self Release
Based in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, this four piece is made up of Davis Goode (guitar, organ), Lucas Hales (bass, banjo), Justin Hart (vocals, mandolin), and Matt Pavlick (drums). This debut album includes twelve songs that are firmly planted in the Roots music field and the organic sound is very pleasing, laced with nicely paced song arrangements that showcase the inventive interplay between the musicians. Hart takes lead vocals throughout but his delivery can get somewhat lost in the overall production at times. There is plenty of colour in the strong instrumentation but the lyrics are hard to decipher on some of the songs.
The musicians excel on tracks like Strange Courage, Savage Gulf and Dirty Field Golden highlighting strong playing on these up-tempo workouts. Elsewhere Return To Earth, Graveyard Of Ambition and Road Home show a softer, laid-back side to the band with the sweet melodies always present in the arrangements.
The album was produced by Bronson Tew at Dial Back Sound studios, Water Valley, Mississippi and he certainly brought out the creative dynamic in the band’s playing. The songs that are all written by Justin Hart, including two co-writes with Raien Emery, and on this evidence there is still plenty more gas in the tank and more to come from this group of talented musicians.
Review by Paul McGee
The Self Help Group Dream Of A Ghost Trieste
Brighton is home to this band and they formed back in 2009 when Mark Bruce sought out like-minded musicians to assist in bringing his song ideas into living colour. A debut album NOT WAVING, BUT DROWNING appeared in 2013, followed by DEAD STARS in 2015, before the band went into something of a sojourn. A number of singles and EP releases have seen the light of day in more recent times but the band remain largely undiscovered outside of their local environs.
Towards the latter part of 2023 the band released this third album and the eleven songs are beautifully conceived, delivered and wrapped in swathes of melody and sweet vocal harmony. The music reveals itself in a subtle unfurling of timeless tunes, the song meanings somewhat open to interpretation as the words form part of the overall lush canopy of sound. All in all, it’s an intriguing project and one that highlights the deeply rich talent that exists among this band of musicians. Maybe it’s something in the air in the Brighton seaside resort as the sense of joy in the playing is clearly evident in the song structures that soar and sweep around the gentle rhythms.
If you are looking for a road sign, then it may well point back to the uplifting harmonies of CSN, and to the addictive sound of The Jayhawks. Songs like the beautiful Empty Drive and Spirit Lake share in common a celebration of the enduring connection that links us all across time, whether cataloguing a family and the changes through the years captured in photographs, or acknowledging a life that was lived and lost in sacrifice to the wonders of nature.
Elsewhere, songs such as American Giants, William Dear and Yumi deal separately with subjects including nostalgic road trips, satanic ritual abuse and a couple who didn’t speak to each other for 20 years. There are no weak tracks on this album, and the celebratory power of A Language Of Music is balanced perfectly against the endearing Willow Tree, a love song that spans generations and closes proceeding with the message that love always endures.
The album was co-produced by Mark Bruce and Paul Pascoe at Church Road Studios in Brighton. Mark writes the songs and provides lead vocals in addition to displaying his multi-instrumental gifts across the tracks . Robert Swabey also adds guitar with Ian Bliszczak on bass and Jamie Fewings on drums. Sisters Clara Wood-Keeley and Sarah Wood-Herries sing beautiful harmony vocals and Helen Weeks (from the excellent Equatorial Group) adds inventive pedal steel guitar on a number of tracks. Strings and other soundscapes are added courtesy of other contributors and the entire listening experience is quite memorable. Definitely a band to put on your radar and this album comes highly recommended.
Review by Paul McGee
Sturt Avenue Bury Me In the Garden Self Release
This is the second full album release from a band that are based in Adelaide, South Australia. Their full length debut HOW DO YOU THINK IT SHOULD BE? appeared in 2021 and during the lockdown Bryn Snoden continued writing songs for this follow up release. The seven piece band are very adept at shaping the melodies around the nice rhythmic groove of the arrangements and on the more mellow songs the writing talents of Snoden come to the fore. The entire album revolves around break-up songs and it would be tempting to suggest that he is still not over the woman in question, despite singing about moving on and hoping for better days. Maybe broken dreams carry no lessons for the future, but I doubt it, and the question must be asked whether time is ever really wasted?
The album opens with an acoustic song Wake Me When the World Makes Any Sense and the home recording feel unveils a vulnerability, with the dread of night seeping in and sleep leaving by the door. The title track is upbeat in tempo with sweet background harmonies on a song about erasing all physical traces of a life so that only internal memories remain. Here I Am has a strong band dynamic and sings of living in the moment while looking for new beginnings. Getting past an old love is never easy and on Talk the memory of days gone by and that special feeling are in question ‘But quickly go the days, And the harder that I hold on, the faster you slip away’ – the band really shining on this track with great interplay.
Best Friend deals in the same territory and the joy of something once shared is quickly replaced by sadness ‘But you're looking to the future, And I don't fit into your plan, And if you don't see that changing, I guess that I understand.’ Co-vocal by sister Tarn Soden is very strong here as are all her vocal contributions throughout. Still In Love is another up-tempo sound before the softer Against the World delivers a slow rhythm and melody that echoes more separation blues. Perfect Afternoon has some superb guitar dynamics from John Soden before Make Do delivers another acoustic based song with horns and accordion adding to the sweet mix of instruments.
Wrong Side Of the Weekend is a standout track and the building song arrangement includes some excellent bass playing from Isaac Kerr before fluid guitar and keyboards intertwine towards a fine climax. The song Marion Bay conjures memories of childhood spent in a township in South Australia, surrounded by beaches. Sweet nostalgia.
The band is made up of Bryn Soden (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, harmonica, harmonium, additional percussion), John Soden (backing vocals, lead guitar, slide guitar), Tarn Soden (backing vocals), Bryce Lehmann (drums), Isaac Kerr (bass guitar, backing vocals), Dave Thompson (accordion, keys, backing vocals), Ollie Patterson (violin), Sophia Dennis (saxophone), Sean Helps (trumpet, trombone, flugelhorn), and additional vocal contributions from Katie Pomery and Georgy Rochow.
The album was produced by Isaac Barter, with tracks captured across different studios, in addition to on-the-road recordings. This is yet another fine addition to the growing reputation of this band and I have no doubt, given the quality of musicianship, their talent will continue to guarantee a bright career over the years ahead.
Review by Paul McGee
Josh Washam Waxhaw Drive Good Work
Josh Washam grew up in Pennsylvania and is now based in Nashville. Along with his album releases this singer songwriter is also making a reputation as a producer. This new album follows on from his 2021 release Squash Blossom and the music remains in the Folk/Americana arena that has been his favoured medium thus far.
There are ten tracks included and the playing time of just thirty minutes delivers thoughtful arrangements, played with a style and inventive élan. Washam is a multi-instrumentalist and his talent is obvious on these songs. He is supported on the project by Andrew Kahl on drums and vocals, Greg Herndon on keyboards, John Mailander on strings, and Steve Peavey on synth sounds. The album is named after a street in his neighbourhood and the overall feel is very much one of spontaneous interplay among the musicians.
Opening with the funky Keep On Workin’ the delivery is reminiscent of Little Feat and the message to keep trying hard to succeed is one that resurfaces on other songs as a theme. Accept What You Deserve seems to say that we are our own worst enemies in that we deserve what we end up with. As if we are ever in full control of what happens in the greater scheme of things. People suffer bad breaks all the time and fate and circumstance intervene in perverse ways. Josh seems to say that we settle too easily and don’t keep pushing for more.
Again, on the song When You’re Thirsty, You’re Too Late it’s suggested that thinking ahead of the curve is what separates out winners from losers. As if we can somehow be in control of the random set of circumstances that life throws our way as curve balls. Staying hydrated at all times is not easy and the dust in the throat is often a sign of honest endeavour. Beach In My Mind puts the idea of having a ‘happy place’ to retreat to in order to escape the mundane reality of everyday worries. A true gift to employ if we have the fortitude to engage the imagination in such a positive fashion. Where do I sign up please?
8:27 states that ‘everything’s right until everything’s wrong’ and maybe refers to the routine by which we all feel comforted by in daily existence? Once change is introduced then all bets are off ‘ I see the constant but where is the change?’ On Up To You the tempo changes are interesting and the musicians rise to the challenge of painting different pictures as Josh sings about making choices to steer our direction in life and not simply accepting what occurs. Lazy Ambition talks about the polar opposite in that the inertia of trying to get everything without any realistic input is more than just personal myopia.
Island has a deep groove and attitude. Definitely one to hear in a live setting with the band meeting the challenge to again switch up the tempos, great guitar rhythm and a message that no man can survive by trying to remain aloof and alone. Hard Pressed is a nice gentle instrumental tune that acts like a palate cleanser, or a ramble on a sunny afternoon. The closing track Last Time, Till the Next Time is a Country themed sweet melody of keeping your options open until the next experience presents itself in relationships, the pedal steel and piano adding nuance to the song arrangement.
Washam started his recording career as a member of the duo Natural Forces. They released a few albums before the solo projects took precedent and the decision to spread his wings has certainly worked for this singer-songwriter as his trajectory continues in an upward direction. Worth checking out, folks!
Review by Paul McGee
Adam and Amy Pope Chances Worth Taking Self Release
This is a very engaging release from husband and wife duo Adam and Amy Pope, who have been releasing music together since 2017. Prior to that Adam had played in a variety of bands and performed regularly at the famous Bluebird Cafe in Nashville. He is from North Carolina and his musical interests focus in the arena of country, rockabilly and bluegrass. Amy comes from a church background where she sang gospel and worship songs in Tennessee and her voice is beautifully textured and very expressive.
In 2015 Adam released a really excellent country album titled Story and Song and it included 14 different songs with an introductory tale before each track. It was a suitably different approach to an album and one that could have become a train wreck, but the very personable narration from Adam Pope worked really well in this case, adding context to the song meanings. Certainly worth checking out. The couple have a strong Christian faith that runs through their songwriting like a chord that connects them to the important things in life such as family, honest living and helping out your neighbour. Much of this sentiment finds its way into the lyrics and the songs are performed in a very attractive tapestry of different colours.
The eleven tracks are all very inviting and the overall production from Darin Aldridge is impressive in the bright sound and the clarity of the instrument mix. Nine of the songs are co-writes between Adam Pope and other writers, their collaborations producing some real moments of magic. A cover of Ring Of Fire (Carter/Kilgore) is also included and the slow arrangement is superbly judged to give the iconic song a greater nuance in the vocal duet and the delivery that mirrors both passion and desire. Kite and a String is a song written by mother and daughter team Robyn and Jackson Collins. It could equally be a love song between a husband and wife but the meaning can also transfer to a parent and child in wanting to live our dreams but also needing to remain grounded ‘‘Can’t touch the sky without a dream… ‘A kite can’t be a kite without a string.’
Many of the songs speak of old traditional values and Granny and Pa is such an example with sage advice passed down to the younger generation from older wisdom accumulated over years of living. Songs of love and commitment are refreshing in their delivery and You Melt Me, I’m There and Memories Worth Making are fine examples of the bond formed between husband and wife, across the years and through both good times and bad. Lord, All I Need Is You is a song of faith and of overcoming doubts and fears. Having belief and faith gives the strength to overcome every challenge.
Other songs such as This Ain’t the Gospel and Playing Patsy are a look at the other side of relationships where things don’t always work out and hard decisions lead to a time for change presenting itself. The need to break away from routine and take a vacation in the sun is captured on Alabama Coast an up-tempo number that celebrates the good things to be gained by a trip to the sunny side. Face to Face is a standout song that looks at returning to old values like communicating with each other and realising that people are all we really need in order to get by. It is the perfect example of the simple acceptance offered on this album.
The musicianship is superb throughout with the studio musicians lifting the songs with some creative interplay between fiddle and pedal steel, the use of dobro and mandolin adding to the symmetry of the varied guitar dynamics, and occasional harmonica all blending with the subtle rhythm section. The musicians are Adam Pope (vocals and rhythm guitar), Amy Pope vocals), Darin Aldridge (vocals, mandolin, lead and rhythm guitar), David Johnson (fiddle, dobro, electric guitar, pedal steel, harmonica), Tim Surrett (bass), Tony Creasman (drums). There is also a guest appearance from Kenzie Wetz on harmony vocals for one song. Overall, the chemistry between the musicians is very evident throughout and this is a very fine album that is worthy of your time and investment.
Review by Paul McGee
Suzy Bogguss Music, The Felice Brothers, Diane Coll Music, Ray Scott, Reed Brake, The Self Help Group, Sturt Avenue, Josh Washam Adam & Amy Pope