Jude Shiels One More Last Time Self-Release
The single Peaceful Dreams / A Friend Like You, released in 2017, pointed towards a change in Jude Shiels' musical direction. More known for following in his legendary father, Brush Shiels' footsteps as a rocking and stomping blues man, after two albums in that genre with his band The So-Called, he has revisited his love of roots and traditional country music with this ten-track record.
Heavily influenced by the late Jerry Jeff Walker's self-titled album from 1972, Shiels recruited two of the players that contributed to that album, pedal steel supremo Patterson Barrett (Buddy and Julie Miller, Hal Ketchum, Nanci Griffith) and renowned harmonica player Doc Simons. Both players are in vintage form, supporting Shiels' matter-of-fact lyrics.
Across the ten self-written songs, Shiels delicately handles the standard country themes. Love lost and matters of the heart (Will I Ever Know, Not My Hard Luck Story), tears in your beer (Drinking & Thinking About Having One More), religious intensity (False Idol), and, of course, trains (One Way Ticket) are all addressed.
We at Lonesome Highway have been bewildered that so few Irish artists and bands have joined the growing revival of 'real' country music in recent years. Take a bow, Jude Shiels. Hopefully, you've kicked started a trend, and others will follow.
Declan Culliton
Rainy Eyes Lonesome Highway Royal Potato Family
At Lonesome Highway, we have been drawn to the quality of music being recorded by Scandinavian artists in recent years. Irena Eide (aka Rainy Eyes) is the latest name to add to the growing list of singer-songwriters from that location creating interesting and provocative music, in her case drawn from nomadic and often troubled experiences from childhood. A single mother raised Norwegian-born Eide; her father was a Serbian musician who struggled with addiction and was only a fleeting presence in her childhood. Her childhood love of music, influenced by her uncle, drew her to the music of The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones and Creedence Clearwater Revival.
Given her unstable childhood, it’s little surprise that Eide sought independence at a young age, leaving Norway in her late teens and moving to Denmark and one year later decamping to San Francisco with a jazz saxophone player whom she fell for. Her time in the Bay Area introduced her to several renowned musicians such as Peter Rowan, Pete Seeger and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, drawing her into old-time folk music. Honing her skills in both folk and bluegrass music, she hosted classes and music camps for young children and recorded her debut folk album, MOON IN THE MIRROR, in 2019.
LONESOME HIGHWAY finds Eide on a more experimental path than on her debut record. The eleven tracks not only embrace her folk leanings but also inject roots, country, and traditional aspects into her music. This diverse musical palette, coupled with the whirlwind and traumatic circumstances that brought the project into being creates an album that is both intriguing and exciting. Eide’s joy of motherhood was contrasted by the breakdown of a marriage that had turned sour, which lead to her fleeing California and relocating in South Louisiana.
Producer and hailed multi-instrumentalist Dirk Powell invited Eide into his studio for the recordings, and the album is an honest and unrestrained collection of songs that confront painful experiences, acceptance and rebirth. Powell’s daughters Amelia and Sophie added backing vocals, Chris Stafford played pedal steel, and Eric Adcock was on organ.
The autobiographical Misty Eyes, which opens the album, sets the scene of desolation and isolation (‘Misty mama on the run, breaking out towards that rising sun. Spend the night on a stranger’s floor, dreaming of an open door’). As with many of the tracks where the theme is downbeat, the deliveries are sparkling, drawing the listener into the tales within the songs. The title track is a two-stepping country delight equalled by the ‘tears in your beer’ A Little Dream. Set Me Free is a jaunty blues affair, possibly recalling the writer’s introduction to early Rolling Stones music in her early years. The strikingly evocative I Thought About You is a stripped-back song with only vocals and strummed acoustic guitar.
The album is bookended by Monday’s Gonna Come Around, which plays out like its author looking in a mirror and addressing herself, dusting herself down, and preparing to forge ahead and put the past behind her.
It takes a lot of pluckiness for an artist to open their heart and lay bare their vulnerabilities. In doing so with LONESOME HIGHWAY, Eide has addressed her personal journey and fashioned a lyrically poetic and hugely satisfying album.
Declan Culliton
Maya de Vitry The Only Moment Self-Release
Maya de Vitry, a founding member of the now-defunct The Stray Birds, has evolved significantly as a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Her latest album, THE ONLY MOMENT, marks her fourth solo release. After co-producing her last record, VIOLET LIGHT, with Ethan Jodziewicz, she took complete control of the production duties on this ten-track record, showcasing her growth and artistic maturity.
For the past decade, Maya de Vitry has called Nashville home, and it's here that she recorded her latest album at Phantom Studios in Gallatin, Tennessee. She was joined by her studio band, Anthony da Costa (guitar), Ethan Jodziewicz (bass), Alex Wilder (organ), Dominic Billet (drums), and Phoebe Hunt (harmonies). Her music, a blend of alt-country and indie folk, is a unique sound that is showcased in this latest release, featuring some of her most robust material to date.
Some Rent and Burning Building particularly impress. Slightly more left of centre with De Vitry abandoning her comfort zone, the former’s driving rhythm and woozy guitar captivate. With an unrushed vocal delivery and stirring backing vocals, the latter is also raised to another level by fine electric guitar work. Compass enters quintessential Richard Thompson territory, and opener Nothing Else Matters, co-written with Phoebe Hunt, is a lyrically poetic and classic textbook folk ballad. Minimalist tracks I’m Not Going Anywhere and Watching The Whole Sky Change are typical de Vitry evocative compositions.
Maya de Vitry's musical journey began in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where she was born into a musical family. Her path has taken her from playing on street corners to bars, then festivals with The Stray Birds, to her current station as an accomplished singer-songwriter. It's a testament to her skill in creating intimate songs that are fuelled by self-examination and astute questioning. With this album, de Vitry solidifies her status as an artist with endless potential and whose rising star is well deserved.
Declan Culliton
Michael Waugh Beauty and Truth Compass Bros
With four prior albums to his name this Australian singer songwriter has been developing a career that started with a debut release in 2016. He grew up in the beautiful countryside of Gippsland, Victoria and his formative years were something of a challenging time. Having won the Golden Guitar award presented by the Country Music Association of Australia in 2022, Waugh came out as being a gay man and spoke openly about the homophobia he had suffered as a young person. It shaped his growth into adulthood and also played a role in the fact that Waugh decided to follow expected norms and he married into a conventional relationship with a woman and they had a son together.
Waugh works as an English and drama teacher and having reached a decision that he couldn’t hide his true nature any longer, he declared his true sexual leanings in order to eventually face the ghosts of his youth that had led to shame and self-hatred at various intervals. Waugh lost both his parents in 2020 and his brother a year later, prompting him to now live very much in the moment and to embrace the days that we are given. Music is all about making connection and across the eleven songs included on this new album Michael Waugh certainly succeeds in bringing the listener on a journey that unveils lots to enjoy.
Fellow musician Shane Nicholson produced the album and he has worked with Michael Waugh on all his albums to date. Other players on the album in addition to both Waugh and Shane Nicholson (bass, piano, organ, Wurlitzer, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, baritone guitar, lap steel guitar, banjo, mandolin, bouzouki, percussion, backing vocals), include Ollie Thorpe (guitars, pedal steel and backing vocals) and James Gizzard (bass), along with Ali Foster (drums, percussion, backing vocals) with Jen Mize and the Rosylns (backing vocals).
The album opens with a strong statement on behalf of the gay community and We Are Here namechecks a number of iconic gay men who have established celebrity in particular fields over the centuries, from James Baldwin and Oscar Wilde, to Alan Turing, Harvey Milk and Allen Ginsberg. Fix Me is a song that references the experiences of gay men in dealing with confused signals surrounding sexuality and the lyrics reflect this ‘But you can’t fix me, I’m not broken, I’m the way I’m meant to be.’ It is a defining moment for Waugh in his brave decision to come out and suffer the slings and arrows of public reaction.
The title song Beauty and Truth is very much in confessional mode and sent out to his wife in trying to address the hurt caused ‘ Too young to be a father, Unfit to be a husband, Too stunted by the world to be full grown, And in my stupid youthfulness, I tried my very best to fill those roles.’ By way of apology he asks that ‘I hope that you find the love that I could not give to you, I hope you find beauty and truth.’
Another deeply personal song is Father’s Day and it tracks the emotions of an estranged parent who has limited access to a child he loves ‘What I wouldn’t give to hear your voice again, Even in another screaming fight, Silence reminds me of things I regret, And words said in anger and spite.’ The trio of songs Out, Playlist and Moved are in celebration of the new love that Waugh has found and his desire to shout out his happiness for all to hear. Wanting to let go of past hurts and also sharing favourite songs on a playlist that keep a closeness with someone when they are not with you, ‘When my mind was fixed, When my life was stuck, Look at how you moved me.’
The track that highlights the empathy in Michael Waugh is Songs About Women where he gives vent to the way in which women are put down by ignorance and misogyny in society ‘Don’t give some bastard an anthem and let him think we understand, I don’t want another song about another woman hurt by a man.’ On Patsy Cline we have a tribute to the country legend in addition to mention of Tammy Wynette, both of whom have made an impression on the singer. He wrestles within a relationship where the differences can best be highlighted by the lyrics ‘And it’s fatally flawed ‘cause you don’t even know who Patsy Cline is, But is it that you like to dance and I like my heart broken?’
The final song is To Be Alive and is a celebration of being able to celebrate the moment, having fun and striking out for the golden fleece. Michael Waugh has a very warm vocal tone and these songs certainly resonate. An album that bring plenty of pleasure in the great production, even if there is quite a lot of pain threaded through these interesting songs.
Paul McGee
The Gringo Pistoleros The Rise and…subsequent Fall of the Texas Alien Self Release
If Texas swing and a traditional honky tonk sound are your preferences then this album is tailor-made for you. With tracks like One Step Further and I’ll Walk the Line (for your Hoochie Coo) jumping out of the speakers, it’s not hard to love what going on among this band of troubadours.
As a once-off project the combined talents of Lazarus Nichols and Cory Grinder came together with fellow musicians to record at Signal Hill Studios in Austin. Over a period of just one week they laid down these ten songs and the entire process was overseen by co-producers Patrick Herzfeld and Larry Wilson. Three of the songs are cover versions, with the classic That’s How I Got To Memphis (Tom T Hall) making an appearance, alongside Dire Wolf (Garcia/Hunter) and the traditional classic Crawdad Song. There is a more measured pace to country songs like I Can Still Remember When and Time Bomb with the assembled musicians clearly enjoying the spirit of the occasion and laying down this spontaneous music.
Lazarus Nichols wrote the seven songs that sit alongside the cover versions and Cory Grinder (guitar, piano, fiddle, vocals) brought his Playboy Scout swing band members Bee Roberts (drums), Stephen “Tebbs” Karney (pedal steel, vocals), Alexander Buchanon (bass). They are joined by Michael O’Connor, Oliver Steck, Joe Faulhaber, Larry Wilson and Austin Stambaugh on various instruments. Vocal duties are shared across the songs and highlights include a down and dirty blues sound on The Cat Came Back and the classic country sound of High Mileage Heart with a shifting tempo and the pedal steel and piano floating around the melody – I can almost hear the spirit of Willie in the backing vocals.
Will the Gringo Pistoleros consider another rendezvous and declare a statement of intent to carry on? This is anybody’s guess but there is so much to enjoy here, created over such a short time-frame, that the answer should be a resounding YES!
Paul McGee
Mark Brown Happy Hour Self Release
Ulster County, New York is home to this interesting singer songwriter and his biography is one that would make you want to take notice of his music and his words of hard earned experience. Mark has at various intervals worked as a mechanic, a commercial fisherman, a carpenter and a farmer. His road has been filled with interesting encounters along the way and these inform his songwriting, as can only be expected. This is his third album release and he previously performed in the band Uncle Buckle.
There are a number of quirky moments on the album and at just 38 minutes, the fourteen songs don’t overstay their welcome, making the listening experience very enjoyable. Scratch asks the question and answers it by listing a series of places where people stop, to take a moment and .. scratch! An interesting choice to open the album and there is a distinct nod to Stan Ridgeway on the song Davenport with fine backing harmonies and a song about just lounging in the yard on a large sofa. Inertia celebrates the fine art of idleness and the urge to do nothing in the face of mounting chores and tasks. The fun of Happy Hour is paired with some mean guitar licks as the craziness of family life plays out. The calypso groove of Gasoline Hands is addictive, with a deep bass line, jazzy percussion and female chorus line.
The songs Long Time, Broken Glass and God Bless Me Jesus have a nice Country influence in the arrangements, and the final track The Unanswered Prayer is a nice acoustic coda to a very engaging album that throws up many surprises. Mark Brown wrote all the songs and delivers on lead vocals and guitar. He is joined by Ken McGloin (guitar), Mark Murphy (bass), Dean Sharp (drums), Dean Jones (banjo, keyboards, vocals), Dakota Holden (pedal steel), Katie Mullins (vocals). Both Jones and McGloin handled the production duties and the results are very rewarding.
Paul McGee
Billy Eli Lace Self Release
This is another solid country album produced by Ed Tree at his Californian Treehouse Studio. It features a fine coterie of West Coast musicians, including bassist Taras Prodaniuk, Dale Daniels on drums, pedal steel players Kevin Maul (in the main), Jim Hemphill's additional guitars, and Jaycee Maness. Teresa James adds harmony vocals, and Ed Tree covers almost everything else. One track, All Day, features another stalwart of the scene, who has also recently released a Tree-produced album, Davis Serby.
Eli naturally handles all the lead vocals with the confidence and assurance of an artist who has been around the block a time or two. He has a knack for writing (or co-writing) a melody that translates to tracks and immediately becomes memorable. The opening two tracks fit this overview, with Trying To Drown and You're The Wine being graced by guitar riffs that are both effective. Both are slices of the everyday - dealing with the day-to-day and looking at the love there is in good company rather than in simply an alcoholic intake. That theme of seeking solace or empathy follows in songs like Hey Maria, Here's To You, it appears, to these ears at least.
The pastime of consumption, though in very different contexts, is a thread that runs through the titles Drinking To The Angels, Anejo Nights and Wine In The Desert. All Day features what might be the most unlikely sound in a country of song, and that is the electric sitar, which is highly effective in adding a different sonic tack. Spending the day in a place that was an unexpected and unwanted stop in a schedule is the subject of Getting Out Of Denver with its tale of being snowbound in that city's airport for an extended period so that "the airport bar is starting to feel like home" and the realisation that he has "got 20 more hours to go as the runway is covered up in snow."
The album's ten song inclusions show that Eli is comfortable in his skin and, in his own way, a part of the legacy that has been central to West Coast country for quite some time from the likes of Buck Owens and Dwight Yoakam through to some of the new, younger artist emerging. Eli sits somewhere between by delivering his take on that sound, which he denotes as Americana, that is not about breaking down barriers but more about following a personal mission to bring his songs to the best place he can. He succeeds with that under the helm of Tree and the other musicians involved.
The warm tones of Eli's vocals help make this an easy listen without ever becoming 'easy listening.' It sits easily alongside previous Eli albums without any radical change in direction and shows his growth and maturity as a singer/songwriter who has woven all his attributes into something worthy of your consideration.
Stephen Rapid
Charlie Overbey In Good Company Lone Hawk
Following his previous E.P. and album, this new set of songs is aptly titled as it features a host of guest players joining him on various tracks. Many of these friends contribute not only as vocalists but also as players. The vocal performances come from Jamie Wyatt, Eddie Spaghetti, Sarah Gayle Meech, Courtney Santana and Nils Lofgren, who also adds his guitar skills to the track he guests on. Other six-string guitar slingers include Charlie Starr, Chris Masterson, Stuart Mathis, Danny B Harvey and Duane Betts. In one song, Jon Graboff adds pedal steel, while Rami Jaffee adds a variety of keyboards. These artists, alongside the many other contributions from the committed crew, were under the captainship of Californian Charlie Overbey. As the opening song denotes ("I'm a punk rock spy in the house of the honky tonk heaven … but punk and honky go together"), this is an album with as much rock' n' roll in its bloodstream as that of underlying country influences. Undoubtedly influenced by the time when Overbey was a member of an L.A. cow-punk band, Custom Made Scare, from around the 2000s, who were a big part of that scene back then.
The ten songs explore that premise of rock' n' swagger. The music leans more towards the kind of Stones-ish sense of country influences rather than anything more traditional country. The themes also play this out with tracks such as Champagne, Cocaine, Cadillacs and Cash, Life of Rock & Roll and Punk Rock Spy. The guitars rock and the keyboards swirl over the solid bass and drum foundation, which drives things along nicely with moments of Southern rock, outlaw country making themselves felt. Somewhat more heartland in tone is The Innocence, which has guitar and vocals from Nils Lofgren, a musician who himself had been at the centre of that genre in the past.
But there are moments of quieter reflection, such as Dear Captain, which features some integral soulful harmony vocals from Sarah Gayle and Lori Ottino and some subtle guitar for Johnny Stachella. That rock and soul influence carries over to Let Me Love You with guest Jimmy Vivino and keyboards, guitar and call and response backing vocals. The whole thing is a passage through life, and life pretty much in the company of the ups and downs that accrue along its highways. Other moments are more straight-up twangs, with Miss Me utilising Graboff's steel guitar with piano and, again, the vocals of Sarah Gayle Meech. This is followed by another solidly twang-laden reminisce in Two Minute Marvin, about a man who is less than worthy of the woman who should be with him; it features Danny B Harvey on guitars.
There is more than one string to Overby's bow, as he is also a renowned and sought-after hat maker for the stars of both movies and music. This is just another tangent of a long and doubtless hard enough journey to where he is now and the reason that his creative path has been his own.
However, it is Overbey who is at the heart of these recordings; even in good company, he is the main man who not only produced, wrote, and played acoustic guitar and drums but also added a believable, gritty, and upfront vocal to each track, which has that level of authenticity that is essential for good listening in whatever company you may be in.
Stephen Rapid
Matt Castillo Pushing Borders Texace
Matt Castillo has a signature sound and a recognisable voice, making this new release something to take notice of. With real bite, beat and ambition the album will only help define how traditional country has its place in the marketplace. It has got the right elements of 90s country down to a tee. It helps, of course, that the man at the helm here, Roger Brown, both as producer and co-writer of many of the songs with Castillo, is an artist himself, an award-winning songwriter, and a producer with a vast experience of numerous Americana formats but also with a definite understanding of how to make a record that sounds as good as it does. Of course, Castillo himself adds his own stamp and definition with a blend of his Texas upbringing and his border lineage, which features accordion and some Spanish as vital and standout ingredients. There are immediate reminders in this sound blend of similar tracks by Dwight Yoakam and Rick Trevino - an artist later produced by the equally like-minded Mavericks' leader Raul Malo.
This album, though, stands on its own strengths with track after track sounding like a possible single - not something that you can really say about every new album. The themes cover the tribulations of the working man (Working For The Man), the contrast between hoping a relationship will flourish and for rain to fall (If It Rains Today) and, of course, songs dealing with all aspects of love, be it lost, found or continued. Almost, Got Get Her, wherein he wonders if he's such a go-getter why didn't he get her. Trail Of Love, Mañana Blues , and I'm Hurting all continue his upbeat tales of woe.
Castillo has understandable energy given his relative age and an overview that seems beyond his years with his fulsome vocal efficaciousness. This may be because he has partnered with veteran co-writers such as Brown, Byron Hill and Tommy Connors. Particular mention is also warranted to the players here, especially the accordion contributions of Michael Rojas and Jeff Taylor, the lead guitar of James Mitchell and Eddy Dunlap's pedal steel. That assembled team is a major part of the album's success. It is a prime example of all aspects of the project being complementary. This extends to the album cover, which is equally considered and shows that the whole release was been given the attention it deserved to bring it to another level.
With two full albums and an EP under his belt, Castillo can use this base to further build his career. He is currently an independent artist who has expanded his horizons, as befits the album title. This may well be part of why his sound is as it is today, and even if that changes when the possibility of a major label signing arises, it will expectantly mean not so much a change of direction as the option to court a wider audience while, if anything, solidifying his strong traditional roots.
For me, this is another contender for one of the best albums released so far this year, placed alongside the likes of the new albums from George Ducas and Jesse Daniel, also in that category. If you hanker for the drive and distinctiveness of the best of the music that emerged in the mainstream in the 90s, then this is a release that should be sought out and savoured.
Stephen Rapid
Jude Shiels, Rainy Eyes, Maya de Vitry, Michael Waugh, The Grng0 Pistoleros, Mark Brown (Uncle Buckle), Billy Eli (The UnExplainable Billy Eli & The Amazing Spooklights), Charlie Overbey Music, and Matt Castillo Music