Jim White and Trey Blake Precious Bane Fluff & Gravy
Author, producer, singer-songwriter, and with former parallel careers that included taxi driver, male model, professional surfer and dishwasher, Jim White's life pursuits continue to intrigue (track down a copy of his 2022 autobiography, Incidental Contact, for verification). After his last solo album, MISFIT'S JUBILEE, in 2022, White turned his attention to producing fellow gothic country singer-songwriter Ben de la Cour's excellent 2023 release, SWEET ANHEDONIA. He has followed that project with this equally absorbing collaboration.
Like many episodes in White's colourful world, this latest one came about unorthodoxly. The connection with Brighton, UK, resident and artist Trey Blake was made when she, a fan of White's work, gifted him with a copy of Mary Webb’s 19th-century historical romance novel, Precious Bane. That contact set in motion a long-distance correspondence between the two for a number of years. Having grown up with undiagnosed autism, Blake's artistic endeavours through song, prose and poetry were fuelled by her management of rollercoaster emotional highs and lows.
What began as a communication between the two eventually led to a sharing of songs across the ocean and this intriguing ten-track album, which runs over the one hour mark. Engineered in the States by White and in the U.K. by Joe Watson, a member of the avant-pop band Stereolab, the final mixing and mastering are credited to John Keane (REM, Hard Working Americans, Billy Bragg). A number of guests are credited alongside White's vocals and instrumentation (he plays guitar, banjo, keys, marimba, percussion, woodwinds, harmonica, and melodica) and Blake's vocals and guitar. Among them are Robert Exon (guitars), Marlon Patton (drums and bass) and a regular companion of White's when he tours in Ireland, guitarist Clive Barnes. Collectively, they weave atmospheric and cinematic landscapes, very much in keeping with the themes of infatuation and passion within the songs.
As you might expect, the meeting of two somewhat unconventional minds brings about a gothic, mythical soundscape and a lyrically challenging outcome. From the opening track, Ghost Song, to the album closer, The Ballad of The Gunfighters, sagas of life, love, desire, and death unfold. The former, with White taking the lead vocal, broods upon the pursuit of peace of mind. The latter, a poem voiced by Blake, tells of a gunslinger's last stance. White has described Trey Blake as 'U.K's undiscovered Patti Smith,' and that comparison raises its head in the explosive tale of uncontrollable desire, Rushing In Waves. 'Love comes when it ain't called, goes when it's still wanted,' Blake sings in the timeless tale of a chance, lust-ridden encounter. A sense of fleeting and unhinged love also emerges in the gorgeous Tumbleweed Time, and His Lady tells of a brutal, loveless encounter.
Like the classic novel that inspired this album of the same name, White and Blake have created a timeless body of work with this project. The lyrics are pure poetry, the musicianship quite stunning, and the vocals equally striking. White has flirted with collaborations in the past, including working with Aimee Mann, M Ward, Victoria Williams, Ane Diaz, and the Packway Handle Band, to name a few. With this treasure chest of songs, he has found the optimum, like-minded artist with whom to trade lyrics and music.
On a final note, credit goes to John Shepski at Fluff and Gravy Records for supporting this project, when most labels shy away from anything potentially non-commercial.
Declan Culliton
Willow Avalon Southern Belle Raisin’ Hell Atlantic/Assemble Sound
If COUNTRY NEVER LEAVES was an impressive debut EP for Willow Avalon in 2024, her debut full-length album SOUTHERN BELLE RAISIN’ HELL has raised the bar for the Georgia-born artist tipped by Holler Country Music as one of the ‘Upcoming Country and Americana Artists You Need to Know in 2025.’
The fourteen-track album, seven of which appeared on last year’s EP, is particularly impressive in that it merges elements of traditional and modern country without ever descending into the bland pop/country crossover dominating country music radio these days.
Currently living in New York, Avalon grew up playing piano in church at an early age and eventually started trying her hand at songwriting. She is the daughter of singer-songwriter, and much loved at Lonesome Highway, Jim White, which goes a long way to explain her talent as a wordsmith.
SOUTHERN BELLE RAISIN’ HELL is a suite of stories that gives the listener a tour of life in a small Southern town, tales most likely triggered by Avalon’s personal experiences and observations growing up in that environment. Busted-heart songs may sit comfortably alongside high-spirited ‘badass’ statements, yet behind those sentiments also lies a sense of pride in the Southern heritage and personal self-esteem.
The short opening spoken intro, backed by Aalon’s dad on banjo and delivered in a natural Southern drawl, tells of the musical history of her family. It’s swiftly followed by Something We Regret, which bears witness to the mixed signals between the opposite sexes and the likely car crash that can follow (‘I love you like sugar, you love me like sex. Put us both together, we’ll do something we regret’). The instantly catchy and melodic Country Never Leaves and lyrically slick Getting’ Rich, Goin’ Broke visit small-town customs, the latter advancing a reality check on the ‘haves and have-nots.’
The like-minded artist Maggie Antone, whose slick wordplay on her 2024 album RHINSTONED also blended witticism and cutting reality, joins on backing vocals in Yodelayheewho. It’s a fire-spitting affair aimed at a former beau who didn’t last very long (‘And if I’m honest, Lord knows I am, you were a momentary lapse of judgement I’ll never understand’). Avalon is also firing on all cylinders and warning off pretenders on the grungy title track, before speaking of a more heartfelt separation in Tequila and Whiskey. Awash with weeping pedal steel and bookending the album is the piano-led tear-jerker Good Morning, Goodbye.
With fifteen million streams of Avalon’s two recent singles, Tequila and Whiskey and Homewrecker in two months, a string of sold-out shows in The States last year, and tours of the UK and Ireland scheduled for spring of this year, 2025 promises to be a breakout year for Avalon on both sides of the Atlantic. It may be an overcrowded market and all the more difficult for women to earn deserved exposure. Still, Willow Avalon ticks all the boxes to suggest she will significantly advance her career with this project. She possesses industry-savvy, astute and quick-witted lyrics and sparkling vocals that will appeal to broad audiences and lovers of both classic and modern country. Watch this space.
Declan Culliton
The Weather Station Humanhood Fat Possum
Performing as The Weather Station since 2006, Canadian Tamara Linderman's blend of experimental folk music has resulted in seven albums, including the latest HUMANHOOD, articulating a dark period of uncertainty and confusion for her. Unsettling as the Covid enforced lockdown was, the aftermath of returning to what had previously been the norm, alongside her deep-felt feelings on climate grief, brought its pressures, resulting in a state of near burn-out for Lindeman. Admitting that it's an album and project that she would not create at the present time, it’s one that needed to be given life in 2023 when she began working on the thirteen-track record.
The victim in many ways of her success and in particular that of her two previous albums, IGNORANCE (2021) and HOW IS IT THAT I SHOULD LOOK AT THE STARS (2022), her available budget for this project was far more than those previously available to her. Despite pressures to record in Los Angeles with suggested producers, Lindeman bravely and not without risk decided to record in Toronto and use those available funds to engage her favourite players, tour band members and friends. The recordings commenced at the Canterbury Music Company in Toronto, where she was joined by her co-producer Marcus Paquin and the rhythm section of Kieran Adams (drums), Philippe Melanson (percussion) and Ben Whiteley (bass). Karen Ng (saxophone, flute) and Ben Boye (keys) were also contributors.
The album continues the departure from Lindeman's more accessible early career recordings and follows her more experimental leanings in recent projects, blending elements of free-form jazz and electronics alongside her folk leanings and gentle soprano vocals. At the core of the songs is a personal rebirth, and the lengthy time required to complete the material reflects her recovery. 'I've gotten used to feeling like I'm crazy or just lazy. Why can't I get off this floor?' she asks herself on the first single Neon Sign, her pleading vocals in front of swirling flute and edgy piano. Equally questioning and frantic is Windows, where she seeks to be cast free from her demons, 'My heart is racing as a window opens, somewhere to let me out.' Irreversible Damage returns to the theme of reckless climate change and destruction that dominated the aforementioned album IGNORANCE. Linderman's quietly spoken word is all but drowned out by freeform and pulsing percussion, drums and horns. Body Moves is an exercise in self-questioning and detachment, with the author addressing herself, 'Your body fooled you; your body moved you, yes. Now, what you had to do was figure out why it had to fool you.'
The album closes with Sewing, proffering a note of acceptance and pressing on. 'Too late for perfection, to clean up the mess…..all I can do is sew it in,' Linderman admits as she continues her self-healing journey that might not have yet reached its intended destination.
Linderman has consistently tussled with despair, and emotional and environmental wreckage in her musical output. However, equally consistent is how delicately and wholeheartedly she handles that subject matter. HUMANHOOD may be her most ambitious project to date, both lyrically and sonically, to date but it's a triumph for an artist who is never afraid to take risks rather than be market-driven.
Declan Culliton
Lilly Hiatt Forever New West
The sixth album by Lilly Hiatt reflects the sweeping changes that she encountered since the release of her last album, LATELY, in 2021. Since then, the Nashville-born artist, and daughter of acclaimed artist John Hiatt, married her fellow artist Coley Hinson and they moved out of the hustle and bustle of Nashville to a more rural setting. Hiatt also references that getting a rescue dog completed the trilogy of events that left her in a more relaxed headspace. The newfound romantic relationship is referenced in the title track ‘Nice to be a loner, no one knows your hurt. But I wanna be by your side, I wanna be by your side forever.’
Hiatt’s songwriting has always been profoundly personal, and FOREVER is no exception. If her pandemic album LATELY was often stripped back and lonesome, her latest guitar-driven offering finds her in an altogether more buoyant mindset. Written and recorded at home, the nine-track record was produced by her husband Coley Hinson, who also played most of the instruments.
The blistering opener, Hidden Day, signposts the raw and rocky sonic trajectory that follows. Her foot also remains heavy on the gas with Shouldn’t’ Be, Ghost Ship, Somewhere and the previously referenced title track. It’s not all blood and thunder either; Man is an optimistic and gorgeous ballad, with backing vocals by Hinsen and enriched by ambient pedal steel.
Memories of carefree and youthful freedom feature in the instantly catchy album closer, Freedom. It includes a wicked guitar break by Hinson and signs off with a warm-hearted voicemail from John Hiatt, offering best wishes to Lilly’s dog!
FOREVER is very much a declaration of Hiatt’s current state of mind. Hopefully, the album’s title is a prediction of lasting contentment for an artist who seldom wastes a line, and is rocking out at her best here. It’s more than a worthy addition to her most impressive back catalogue.
Declan Culliton
Rose City Band Sol Y Sombra Thrill Jockey
There is something instantly rewarding about the recordings of Ripley Johnson's band, Rose City Band. Nothing changes dramatically, yet on each subsequent release, new delights unfold. The band's fifth album, SOL Y SOMBRA, continues where Johnson left off with GARDEN PARTY in 2023, with ten trippy tracks of pure cosmic country. 'One of my takeaways from making this record is that I spent a lot of energy trying to do things a little different, but ended up back where I started in many ways,' admits Johnson on this latest record.
Recorded at his home in Portland, Oregon, Johnson played guitars, bass, piano, mandolin, and percussion. He was joined by his regular players Barry Walker (pedal steel) and Paul Hasenberg (keyboards) and also engaged John Jeffrey (drums).
The album title translates in English as 'Sun and Shadow', and tracks like the opener Lights On The Way, Seeds Of Light and Sunlight Daze emphasise the band's sun-kissed and cloudless-sky signature sound. Radio Sound, the first single released from the album, nods toward the youthful escapism of country rock that poured out of California in the late 60s. The short instrumental La Mesa pays homage to the San Diego County city of the same name, before the album plays out with The Walls. Awash with trippy pedal steel and keyboards behind unhurried vocals, it bookends a striking body of work.
Rose City Band works spectacularly well as a relaxing project for Jonhson alongside his other two projects, the more psychedelic and experimental bands Moon Duo and Wooden Shjips. Drawing inspiration from his love of private press records from the mid-70s and groundbreaking band The Grateful Dead from the decade before, Johnson is a dedicated and unabashed torchbearer for a musical genre that seldom disappoints.
Prepare to be transported into a dreamy and quite wonderful sonic space; headphones are recommended for maximum return.
Declan Culliton
Massy Ferguson You Can't Tell Me I'm Not What I Used To Be North & Left
Alt-country band Massy Ferguson entrusted the production duties to their Seattle neighbour Damien Jurado for their latest and seventh album. Spanning almost two decades, the four-piece outfit of Ethan Andersen (vocals, bass), Adam Monda (vocals, guitars), Fred Slater (piano, keyboards), and Dave Goedde (drums) have earned many plaudits for their dynamic live shows. If their previous studio albums aimed to replicate the energy of those fully charged shows, YOU CAN'T TELL ME I'M NOT WHAT I USED TO BE, , is a change in direction, by their standards.
The choice of Jurado to oversee the project was a pointer toward something less conventional for the band. Very much an experimentalist, whose output has ranged from lo-fi to folk and indie rock, Jurado was an inspired choice for a band prepared to work outside their comfort zone. 'We're getting out of the bar, we're expanding other rooms,' explained Andersen.
The recording took place at Soundview Analog Studios in Seattle, where the band recreated the tried-and-tested pattern of their live shows, recording the eleven tracks live to tape. Guest players included Micah Hulscher (Margo Price, Emmylou Harris) on drums and percussion, Craig Curran (Fleet Foxes) on bass and guitar, and Bradley Hawkins (Seattle New Music Ensemble) on cello.
Lovely Lad and You Were So High are tracks that particularly highlight Jurado's input and the band's newfound orientation. The slow-burning former is stripped back to piano, cello and vocals. The latter, directed at a loved but drug-fuelled and wasted sister, is a hazy and sonically astounding affair. The druggy tale, I'm Almost There, driven by a drum machine backbeat and Anderson's hoarse vocals, also signals a well-executed and fresh sound. The soulful and almost gospel So Long, Carry On, complete with handclaps, features billowing backing vocals from Zan Fiskum and, not entirely abandoning their signature raw and raucous output, When You're Not Around, is vintage Massy Ferguson.
The more adventurous arrangements and production are winners on this album. Veering down a fresh musical path can be either rewarding or alienating for a band whose signature sound has been relatively unchanged in the past. In this case, Massy Ferguson's venture to new pastures is a resounding success.
Declan Culliton
Sean Thompson's Weird Ears Head In The Sand Ears Over America / Missing Piece
Nashville-born and bred Sean Thompson has been recruited by a host of his neighbours, both in the live setting and in the studio. Emily Nenni, Teddy and The Rough Riders, and Erin Rae have all benefitted from his extraordinary guitar skills and his ability to employ them across genres from country to rock. Thompson is also a member of pedal steel player Spencer Cullum's band, Coin Collection.
Co-produced by Thompson and Jake Davis (Emily Nenni, Margo Price, Nathaniel Rateliff), the album follows Thompson's debut record, WEIRD EARS, from 2022. Recorded at Huge Planet Studios, Thompson was joined by a collection of class musicians, including Alec O'Connell and Ryan Jennings on bass, Erin Rae adding backing vocals, Jo Schornikow on keys, Ben Parks on drums, Michael Ruth on synths, guitarist Jack Quiggins and steel player Spencer Cullum.
'Mind in the clouds, head up my ass, I'm stuck living in the past,' considers Thompson in the song, New Memories, summing up his state of mind while he worked on the material during a difficult time. Written during the trauma of the passing of his mother, a long-term relationship breakup, and the death of his dog, the ten-track album's title and opening track is a self-critical statement born out of those events.
Sonically, the record is a genre-hopping collection, straddling the writer's influences that travel from Frank Zappa's improvisation (Riding In The Van) to the eclecticism of Grateful Dead (Storm's Coming Tonight, Saying The Quiet Part Out Loud). More conventional roots /rock win out on most of the tracks (Roll On Buddy, Not In The Clouds, Sweet Taste of Tennessee), and given the quality of the players, a short, woozy instrumental jam also features (Fizz).
'I just want to sing from the heart,' Thompson repeats on the album closer, Song From The Heart. He has more than achieved that in HEAD IN THE SAND, confronting emotional wreckage head-on and, by way of release, creating an admirable body of work that combines playful sensibilities with self-deprecating truthfulness.
Declan Culliton
The Doohickeys All Hat No Cattle Forty Below
This is a collective name for a band fronted by Haley Spence Brown and Jack Hackett, a partnership who set the overall musical direction, write the songs and deliver the vocals. They discovered a love of traditional country while attending the University of Southern California. They wrote a song together (I Wish My Truck Was Bigger) soon after they discovered a mutual appreciation of that genre and that was the start of their musical relationship. Their music has both humour and heartbreak at its core, with both taking the lead on certain tracks and harmonising on others. Their output has many of the hallmarks of that California take on country music, with echos of their antecedents from the past as well as many of their contemporaries. That list runs from The Maddox Brothers and Rose through to Dwight Yoakam.
The album was produced by noted blues and roots music producer Eric Corne, who previously worked with acts like John Mayall and is, in fact, behind the label Forty Below. He gives the music the drive and context that delivers it its foundation, from which the songs emerge fully formed and fit for purpose. Part of that is attributable to the rhythm section of Adam Arcos and Matt Tecu, over which there are notable contributions from the likes of Jordan Bush’s pedal steel, Aubrey Richmond’s fiddle and Yoakam-related guests Eugene Edwards and Skip Edwards, among others. Both Brown and Hackett are also contributors to the sound, with both adding guitar (acoustic and electric), but it is their vocals that are central to the arrangements which, alongside their writing, set the tone for a tongue-in-cheek, twang-laden roustabout.
That translates into songs like Rein It In Cowboy, about a too close encounter in a bar with such a purposeful protagonist. Brown takes the lead vocal and, as is sometimes the case, she was the lead writer on the song. Hackett’s Can’t Beat My Ol’ Beater is about his love for his beloved but beat-up truck that, despite considerations for a newer form of transport, he wasn’t inclined to part with his original mode of transport. This Town Sucks is a summation of a locality that seems to offer little beyond the usual list of outlets and activities. Another forthright declaration is detailed in I Don’t Give A Damn About Football, an attitude that goes against the largely prevailing perception. Hackett again takes the lead on the likely metaphor-laden message of I Wish My Truck Was Bigger.
The plight of the hard pressed farmer faced with a possible forced sale of their land is the subject in Farm Lawyer. There are nods to the family orientated lyrics and delivery of Dolly Parton in this one. Mr Fix It is about just that while Too Ugly To Hitchhike is a duet that offers similar viewpoints from both perspectives.The title track is a familiar theme about trying to find a path in the overcrowded music business that chooses looks over passion. Perhaps the track that will make you laugh out loud is Please Tell Me You’re Sleepin’, about visiting a grandpa and being trepidatious about what one might find in the circumstances - what he did find was not expected and left an indelible impression! You Can’t Dance has a nice dance/swing feel as befits the subject, on another light-hearted duet.
The album closes on a stripped down rumination on city life that has both vocalists give their reasons as to why they might not want to be there. “Just because we’re in the city don’t mean we ain’t country”, guitar and banjo giving the back porch feel over a background of traffic noise. It ends the album on a more restrained but equally effective note. As mentioned earlier there is some finely balanced and vibrant playing to be found on this album, lifting it beyond parody, and reminiscent of the music they admire, which in the past has often been laced with humour to get a sometimes more serious message across. Either way, put on your hat, forget about the cattle and enjoy it for its own merits.
Stephen Rapid
Dave Murphy A Heart So Rare Self Release
Murphy is a roots-rocker who recorded this album in Brooklyn, New York and it comprises a selection of songs that are largely easy on the ear, with a penchant for melody. This is exemplified on the opening song, October Skies, which features some appealing 12 string guitar over the solid driving beat, on this reminiscence of a place and time where a relationship is recalled for its choices and for the location, time of year, as well as for some less favourable memories. It features backing vocals from James Maddock, who also appears on two other tracks. Another contributor, in that role, is a singer/songwriter who should be familiar to Lonesome Highway readers and that is Mark Erelli, who adds his backing vocals to the remainder of the cuts. Both add a harmonic but unobtrusive presence behind Murphy’s lead. The album was co-produced by Murphy and Chris Tarrow - who contributes all the guitar parts, significant to the arrangements and effectiveness of the songs. There are keyboards used on many tracks too, to enhance the overall feel. The foundation is laid solidly by Shawn Pelton and Richard Hammond.
Josephine and After The Hurricane both also touch on the liaisons of the heart from both sides of the line. There’s is also a longing in the notion of being free and seeing things from a different perspective in what If I Could Fly, noting that “If I could fly, I would surely try, no questions asked, no long goodbye,” with an accordion used persuasively on what is another strong song and vocal delivery. In a similar mode and mood is Take A Ride With Me, which asks for a companion to simply be there to take a chance on a ride together to see what might emerge. While the inability to often voice an expression or indeed “read the writing on the wall” is what I Wish I Could Tell You expresses in a low key way, the darker side of all this is what Planet Of Pain 11 recalls in a convincing downbeat way, with Murphy delivering a vocal that ably underscores that emotion. The more atmospheric Red opens with a sound that approximates a morse code message, the longest song on the album at over five minutes. It uses the code as a descriptive metaphor and does it in a telling way that makes it a standout track among the ten self-written songs of Murphy’s. As “red is the colour we all bleed”, it also seeks some redemption and vision. One More Time, with Erelli on harmony vocal, is stripped back to just guitar, harmonica and voice and is forceful in its own way because of that setting.
Murphy is a survivor of cancer, something in itself which is likely to have given him some moments to reflect deeply on life, love and lasting memories. He has supported many of his contemporaries in recent times, and while he may not immediately have that outright distinction that would separate him in a fairly oversubscribed arena, A HEART SO RARE shows that he is well capable of writing and singing his own enjoyable material, written and sung from his heart.
Stephen Rapid