Boy Golden For Eden Six Shooter
‘Easy, breezy, warm & gritty’ is how Canadian artist Liam Duncan, aka Boy Golden, describes his current musical output and his second album under this moniker serves up big dollops of exactly that. With strong roots in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Boy Golden became the darling of the Americana movement on the release of his first album, CHURCH OF BETTER DAZE, which also serves as the name of a secular movement which he founded, dedicated to being ‘a spiritual and musical home for anyone seeking a better day’.
When the relentless pressure of his longed for success became difficult to deal with, he took himself off to his grandparents’ cabin in the woods in Manitoba on a writing retreat, and this became the basis for the new album. In contrast to his debut recording, he reverted to much simpler technology and recorded all ten songs direct to cassette, with just his vocals, his trusty open backed banjo and an acoustic guitar. He called on a few friends from his beloved Winnipeg music scene to flesh it out later, adding just some harmonies, hand claps and drum machine.
FOR EDEN continues in Boy Golden’s signature poppy folk-country style, but the themes involve more soul searching and nostalgia than on his debut, probably a function of his growing maturity as a person.
Open about his sexuality (he is openly queer), his use of weed (which he credits with driving his creativity) and meditation, all of these fuel the sentiments and themes of the record. On Mesmerized, he wishes that time could stand still and that he was forever back in his youth, where nothing had changed, ‘fuck being famous’. There’s more nostalgia in the frequent references to his trusty steed, a ‘95 Toyota Previa minivan, which also adorns the front cover in a moody b/w photo taken on the prairies of his native Manitoba. The same vehicle is the subject of Toyota, beautifully evoking the heady days of youth and road trips, ‘I changed all the spark plugs, fixed all the leaks/but I ain’t got a window for the passenger seat’. There are three beautifully crafted love songs in Boy, The Way and Never Have 2 Leave, while Burn is a different sort of love song, an ode to his road band, who always ‘burn the place down’ when they get on stage, no matter how hard the day has been.
Boy Golden’s innate optimism blazes throughout the album, but no more so than on the closing track, Untitled. Honestly detailing his path from the early days bartending, playing guitar as a side man, always hustling for a dollar, through to his current life as a full time musician, he admits that he still believes in ‘music before language/love before profit’. He’ll be alright, this boy.
Eilís Boland
Red Idle Rejects New Striped Shirt Self Release
Steve Bowling is the creative source behind this interesting band. They formed in 2014 as a reaction to the original band, Red Idle, turning away from the country-influenced songs that Bowling presented to the members. It’s a fun story and the original release of music as the alternative Red Idle Rejects, WHERE THE LONELY RESIDE (2105), was not an inappropriate title given the circumstances. This is now album number five and proof positive that the original decision to develop a separate vehicle for alternate creative output was an inspired move.
The nine tracks run for thirty-six minutes which seems the perfect length for an album that is very enjoyable and which leaves a positive impression. The country sound was created by a tight group in the studio that includes Steve Bowling (acoustic guitar, lead vocals), Steve Ferguson (electric guitar, lap steel, dobro, piano), William Brock (electric guitar), Kurt Kaufman, Mick Waltrip, Derek Johnson (drums), , Daniel Parker Ferguson (bass guitar), Justin Bridges (fiddle), and John Hicks (banjo). The album was co-produced by Steve Bowling and Steve Ferguson and a fine job they make of it. All songs were written by Steve and his home base in Cincinnati, Ohio was where all the magic happened.
The album title is an homage to early American slaves who were brutalized by bullwhips, leaving scars on their backs, a "new striped shirt." On the song both Rachel Bowling and Grace Bowling Dixon share lead vocals and the added fiddle of Justin Bridges brings a poignancy in the delivery that captures the inhumanity of the times. The banjo on Don’t Dip Your Toe In the Water adds a bright element to the melody and the more rock sound on It Burns allows the band to tune everything up into a fine groove on a song about the travails of being a coal miner ‘my lungs are gone and they won’t return, every time I breathe - it burns.’
It's Not What I Want is a twisted love song where the urge for intimacy can only be found in the arms of another, while My Hands Are Rough is a classic country song dedicated to the rigours of manual labour. Cracked and Mirrored Haze has a nice melody line with some cool guitar parts, with an almost-Irish blessing ‘May your glass never lower, may your eye ever gaze, on an image so reflected through that cracked and mirrored haze.’
Sag is an up-tempo song about bitter lives spent bemoaning the travesties that life can dish out, and a plea to not let things get so bad that you give up trying. Some fine guitar playing on this one also. Elsewhere the instrument mix on Endure brings a nice counterpart to a song that questions a strained relationship and asks ‘will we choose love or just endure.’ The final song 'Til She Fell for Fidel is a fun swipe at social niceties and the prospect of a sorority girl falling for a communist revolutionary. It displays a nice sense of humour, and the overarching style that exists on the album delivers a listening experience that will bring continued rewards.
Paul McGee
The Sensational Country Blues Wonders! If I Stop Moving, I’ll Fall From the Sky Self Release
The lengthy band title is one that singer songwriter Gary Van Miert created in order to highlight his fascination with the psychedelic music from the sixties. Back in 2020 Van Miert released an American roots album, The World Will Break Your Heart, that drew from his inspirations, gleaned from both country and gospel music traditions. In 2022 he released another album, The Adventures of a Psychedelic Cowboy, this time influenced by the psychedelic art and music of the sixties. It was to place this artist on a new path of discovery and that journey culminates with a new album that is filled with references to the joys of expanding your consciousness.
Whether he has dabbled himself with the various hallucinogenics that populate these lyrics is something that will no doubt be interpreted differently by listeners, but songs such as Why Did I Eat the Whole Bag Of Mushrooms? and One More Cup Of Mushroom Tea tell their own tales and point towards a certain ‘train of thought.’ The specific direction is certainly that of a trippy musical journey.
Van Miert also sings of having a pair of Magic Glasses that allow him to see things as they truly are. Perhaps Head In the Clouds sums up the central focus better than any other description ‘ I've got my head up in the clouds, I’m rising way above the crowd, I haven’t heard a thing you said, I’m soaring too far overhead.’ Whether singing about the sky, the universe as a whole, or altered states of consciousness, Van Miert exists comfortably inside his own world.
The title track is a song about flying and the idea that we cannot afford to slow down, while the dream-song I Rode the Bus With Joey Ramone includes the lyric ‘Things aren’t always as they seem, And I don’t always recall my dreams, Thinking about it makes me glad, It might be the best dream I’ve ever had.’ Whether its dreams or hallucinations that are delivering the images, there is no doubting the abiding message on We Are Made Of Stardust and the words ‘We are made of stardust, This is something I have learned, We’re all made of cosmic dust, And to dust, we shall return.’
I have a suspicion that Van Miert takes all of this with the same whimsical approach that much of the album delivers. The playing on the songs is really excellent, although in the absence of information regarding the musicians employed, it could be assumed that everything was handled by Van Miert himself? If not the case then the artist could be more effective in promoting the project to social media. He also performs as a solo musician under the name “The Gospel Wonder” and sings at church services. Certainly a talented musician with a particular vision and perhaps you would be tempted to join him on his journey towards the stars.
Paul McGee
Noah Zacharin Points Of Light Self Release
This Canadian artist is based in Ontario and has been creating music for many years now and his abilities as either musician or producer have been long-admired by his peers and his admirers. With a recorded output that dates back to the 1980s, Zacharin has developed a playing style that is both elegant and seamless in the delivery. He is a guitar-master and his fingerstyle playing is perfectly captured on the opening track of this new album. Ten Tons Of Road is a love song to a former partner who has slipped away over time, even if the memories still linger.
The lovely 17 Minute follows and the melodic ease of the musicians is just superb as Zacharin remembers old loves and the time spent together, captured in the words ‘train blow a whistle like baby’s loving, sweet in the leaving as it is in the coming, oh I’m gonna miss that…’ The pedal steel of Burke Carroll blending sweetly with the guitar of Zacharin.
Bed Of Nails takes a look at the damage done and the cost of survival in the modern world ‘he got strips of duct-tape stuck to his head, they help him hear the voices when they call, she got a mirror mirror on the wall, seems nothing’s fair at all.’ The light jazz arrangement is sweetly addictive in the delivery. Elsewhere, the solo guitar on So Much Work To Be Done is a gentle tribute to the enduring memory to the great Guy Clark ‘ He wore denim and a Stetson, had a chisel, a pencil and a grin, A master with a job don’t ask how or why, he just asks what and when.’ Understated beauty in the sentiment.
The album is produced by Danny Greenspoon and his light touch and experience brings much to admire. The instrument separation in the mix is nicely judged, never more so than on the love song Red Red Bird.
The blues work-out on What Have I Got To Show For It is a standout, with the harmonica of Roly Platt superbly placed in the swinging groove. Another song, Lester Brown, conjures up memories of Gypsy Jazz and the brilliance of the Django Reinhart era, with some inspiring trumpet playing courtesy of Kevin Turcotte. Tom Morrow is a tribute to a friend of Zacharin’s and the family dynamic that surrounded his development. Done Gone Gone is another highlight with an easy blues arrangement and Denis Keldie on superb piano, Russ Boswell on cool bass and Gay Craig on brushed drums keeping everything neat and tidy.
Palette cleanser Something Like A River is a guitar instrumental which again shows the easy style of Noah Zacharin when it comes to creative interpretation on a melody. Sweetly reflective and subtle. The final song comes all too soon and is one of regret for a romance that has ended. Been A Long Day is a song of reflection, played on acoustic guitar and expressing the desire to have comfort in the days that lie ahead ‘and a little breeze says there’s room for me in the wind out there.’ A very accomplished album and the perfect introduction to this artist if he is not already on your radar.
Paul McGee
David Olney Can’t Steal My Fire New West
This tribute album to the enduring legacy of David Olney features seventeen artists who were invited to interpret his songs and the quality of the entire project is of the highest order. The executive producer is Gwil Owen and the chosen tracks are mastered by Ray Kennedy at his Zen Masters studio.
In a career that spanned five decades, David Olney first appeared as a solo artist in the 1980s with the release of his debut album, EYE OF THE STORM, and two of the tracks are included from that early release. A further five tracks are taken from the follow up album DEEPER WELL and we go all the way through his recorded output to one of the last albums released, THIS SIDE OR THE OTHER (2018) with a further two songs included.
There are over twenty albums from which individual tracks could have been selected, including six live recordings, and I’m assuming that each performer here was given their personal choice. Some of the songs resonate with a deeper impact and the performances from Lucinda Williams (Deeper Well), Greg Brown (That’s My Story), The McCrary Sisters (Voices On the Water), Afton Wolfe (Titanic), and Anana Kaye (Running From Love) really stand out.
Not that there are any fillers on the rest of the album. Janis Ian delivers a very poignant rendition of She’s Alone Tonight and the classic Jerusalem Tomorrow is covered by Buddy Miller with great style. The Steeldrivers version of If My Eyes Were Blind has a lovely bluegrass arrangement, while the stripped-back poignancy of 1917 is perfectly interpreted by Mary Gauthier.
David Olney was the master of language and had the gift to refine his words in illustrating an emotion or reflection on our universal quest for communication and love. He died as he performed onstage in 2020 at the 30A Songwriters Festival in Florida. The song he was playing was a cover of Jack Murray’s Bluebonnet Girl and he was onstage with Amy Rigby and Scott Miller at the time of his passing. A very poignant tale, and the lyric in his last song states ‘ I don’t need another heaven, I have found one in this world, in the eyes of my Bluebonnet Girl.’ Although that song is not included on this tribute album, it is fitting that his death was while onstage, with his guitar, in the middle of a performance, doing what he loved best.
I had the privilege of sharing a pint of Guinness with David Olney in Dublin when he played a superbly delivered set of new and old songs some years back. It remains a special memory of a gentle and gifted man. He said that his song Jerusalem Tomorrow put him on the map after Emmylou Harris recorded it on her album WRECKING BALL, but he always had a huge respect among his contemporaries who recognised the brilliance in his simple songs. We can speak of Townes, Guy Clark, or Hank Williams, but in every way David Olney walks alongside these greats in his ability to deliver timeless music.
Paul McGee
Cave Flowers Western Spectre Self Release
It was back in 2020 that Cave Flowers released their impressive self-titled debut album. The band is based in Los Angeles and the current line-up consists of Andy McAllister (vocals, acoustic guitar), Henry Derek Elis (electric guitar), Ben Coil (bass), and Curtis Pettygrove (drums). On this follow-up release the band once again decided to record at Heritage Recording Company in Downtown Burbank and the decision to return to producer Chris Rondinella ensured a consistency throughout the process. The songs were recorded live in the studio over just two days and there is an immediacy in the playing that captured the special energy and vibrancy created. It starts as a reflective look at precious time slipping by and captured by the words ‘Days they keep burning away’ while the song builds to a nice crescendo with keyboard swells and incisive guitar on a stand out moment.
The ten tracks included are very much a continuation of the Americana-based sound of the debut album and the additional keyboards of Jon Niemann are augmented by Jordan Walton (vocals, organ, pedal steel) in completing the bright sound. The guitar of Elis is high in the mix and the fluid playing ensures that both melody and aural textures impress throughout. A highlight is Good Luck Charm the longest track and a fine example of the dynamic at play across the studio musicians.
Garbage and Gold opens proceedings with a cool rhythm and groove, with piano and guitar propelling the tempo along, before the slower pace of Good Love brings a reflection on the search for true romance. The songs alternate in this fashion, with energetic arrangements balanced against more considered, mid-tempo compositions. Leave Your Light On and Do You Ever Know Someone are fine examples of the former, while Invisible Tonight and Old Sunglasses are more restrained in the delivery. Overall we are given another example of the quiet power that Cave Flowers bring to the table, and it is a meal well-worth digesting.
Paul McGee
Diane Coll Up From The Mud Happy Fish
Although she has been recording music since the 90s, the Atlanta-based singer-songwriter Diane Coll did not release her debut solo album until 2022. That album, titled HAPPY FISH (and Other DELIGHTS), was followed by a four-track EP, INTO THE FIRE, in 2023 and last year’s OLD GHOSTS, which was reviewed by Lonesome Highway. A mental health counsellor in a parallel career, Coll’s latest fourteen-track record, UP FROM THE MUD, is a continuation of her writing on relationship trauma, which she hopes may be of comfort to others coping with or overcoming scarring issues.
The track listing on this album is meticulously sequenced, beginning with the pulsing instrumental title track that suggests regeneration and closing with the calming All Is Well, a reassurance that light does exist at the end of the tunnel. ‘Open up your eyes; we can stop the wave of all those lies. His words have made you blind to all that good in you inside,’ Coll advocates in the song Eyes and promotes a new beginning in Fool’s Gold. A reinforcement of that sense of support and encouragement for regained self-esteem features in the stripped-back Today.
Recorded at Blue Door Studios in Atlanta, as was the case with last year’s OLD GHOSTS, Coll co-produced with Grammy-nominated Daniel Groover, who also contributed bass, drums, and percussion. John Daly returned to add guitar, and cello is credited to both Groover and Erica Holloway.
Coming from a postcode similar to her previous solo recordings, the largely minimalistic and acoustic songs perfectly articulate messages of reassurance, vindication, and, above all, rebirth.
Declan Culliton
Paige Plaisance Louisiana Lonely Self-Release
Country waltzes, tears in your beer honky tonkers, heartfelt love songs and lonely laments all get an airing on the debut full-length album from Austin-based country artist Paige Plaisance. The record follows on from her 2022 four-track EP, DIFFERENT NOW.
Born and raised on a farm near the Mississippi River in Louisiana, Plaisance’s musical career started when she learned piano at an early age and started penning songs. However, her path to performing professionally has been parallel to her principal occupation. Having majored in textiles, apparel, and merchandising at Louisiana State University and having worked in retail for a number of years, Plaisance started her own business, Ramblin’ Rose Company. Located on Barton Springs Road and South Congress Avenue in Austin, the company trades from a converted 1972 Airstream trailer mobile boutique. Having successfully launched this enterprise in 2017, Plaisance found more time to follow her musical dream and has been playing around Austin with her backing band, Yeh You Right Boys.
Although it has its dark moments, the initial impression for the the listener is that LOUISIANA LONELY is a fun album. The melodic and swinging opener and the first single from the album Highway 65 kicks proceedings off in fine style, and the less sprightly and cheerless themed additions like the title track and Queen Of Fools are lovely. The playful Good Time Girl may or may not be autobiographical, and When You’ve Been Drinkin’ could have been plucked out of Lee Ann Womack’s songbook. Bayou Moon, a personal favourite, has a timeless Tulsa sound, and the piano-led closer, Love You First, bookends the record in fine style.
Across well-constructed songs, Plaisance's vocals are assured and offered in a natural and unaffected manner, and she’s backed by bulletproof players. The end result is an album that you should be more than happy to spend a lot of time with.
Declan Culliton
Josh Ward Same Ol' Cowboy, Different Rodeo Self-Release
From the off, you know you're in familiar territory with tales of alcohol-fuelled solace and a suggesting that whatever the problem you might have, as the opening song says, There's A Drink For That. It’s something of an upbeat celebration of a particular point of view that continues through the album with other titles such as Spilled Whiskey, Better On A Barstool and Beer Joint Down. What brings them all together is Ward's stone-cold country voice. In terms of bringing something new to the process, this is not what is on offer here. But it makes all the right connections in terms of an evident love for his chosen musical path. He is a committed country singer who has a lot of life experiences to draw from for his music. Something that was apparent in the number of albums previously released that sit under his belt, though, at this point, he rightly feels that this one is a step up.
Ward co-produced the album with Drew Hall and Kerry West, and it features a selection of songs, some of which he has co-written and others chosen to fit his overall sense of purpose. It was recorded at Rosewood Studios in Texas and has many of the hallmarks of the vibrant music that continues to emanate from that State, even if it leans back a little more towards a more traditional sound than some of his more amped-up contemporaries. For this, he has assembled a group of players to do the songs justice, including guitarists Bryce Clarke and John Carroll, fiddler Jenee Fleenor, and steel player Milo Deering. Topping it all is the front and centre presence of Ward's solid singing, which is deserving of mention as it is the beating heart of the material on this album.
The guitars can also get edgier for songs, and the tempo picks up for tracks like the aforementioned There's A Drink For That or Better On A Barstool, while Spilled Whiskey uses the metaphor of the title to look at a lost relationship and takes a more measured approach overall. He has, no doubt, learned something from recording his previous releases and from playing those sometimes-unforgiving Texas dancehall venues.
A number of the featured writers appear in different combinations on several tracks but the themes all are pretty much in the same sonic corral. Those writers include Jake Worthington, Wyatt McCubbin, Chamberlin and Randall King. Allowing these songs to offer something more than a one-dimensional approach allows for some variety and scope. They vary from seeing love as a necessity in Lovin' Where It's Going to Honky Tonk Time, which lauds the evenings spent once he has passed through the swinging doors and is a track that most traditionalists would applaud and feel affinity with when finding oneself back in that particular time zone. Laying out a loving relationship in numbered steps is the raison d'etre of Reasons. Taking a more reflective arrangement is the fiddle-led Talkin' To Your Picture, a song imbued with sadness and featuring an effective female vocal harmony, which is also underlined by steel guitar and piano. The album closes with a heartfelt assessment of a close family relationship that is Walkin' In My Boots.
Ward gets the year off to a fine start with an album that will tick many boxes, inside and outside, his natural environment and locality. It may indeed be a case of the same old cowboy going expectantly to a different rodeo for another round, but we can all be there to enjoy the ride.
Stephen Rapid