Elouise Deep Water Self Release
Although this is under singer Elouise Walker’s name, it is a group effort with the other four featured on the album cover who play a major part in making the music. Deep Water was produced by Walker and John Chamberlin and the production technique was to keep it as raw and field recording-like as possible. Most of the songs are original, but fit neatly with those from other sources such as the opening I’ll Fly Away (written by Albert E. Brumley) and a sombre version of Amazing Grace which has new music by band member Richard Dembowski. Takes on Silent Night and Link Wray’s Fire and Brimstone follow a similar route, a path that can be imagined as wandering through creaking twisted trees, abandoned graveyards, dark moonlight shadows and perhaps even a crossroads at midnight.
Walker and Dembowski, along with John Chamberlin, Michelle Beauchense and Willam Bongiovanni share the majority of the composing credits in different combinations. All, however, understand this pre-electric vision and no matter which is the composer, they have a similar feeling for the patina of times gone by. Walker’s vocals are delivered as if through a cracked radio speaker or carnival style megaphone. This is not music designed to cheer the soul or get you in the party mood. Once in the musical deep water it is easy to surrender to the atmosphere and sink down into a world of death, murder and decay which is actually grist to the mill for a music rooted in bygone times where morbidity and murder ballads were common. Both Walker and the band are gifted exponents of this musical eeriness and use all the instruments at their disposal to bring these songs and recitations to life. Trombone, cello, tuba, banjo, harmonium, lap steel, double bass and percussion all feature, giving a distinctive texture to the music, as do the occasional lead vocals from Dubowski.
It is music that might scare some away, but will equally attract those drawn to its rich, heart of darkness. There are, naturally, 13 tracks which may appeal to those who enjoyed the song and ballads recorded at the dawn of technology as well as those who have been drawn to the music of the likes of 16 Horsepower and Th’ Legendary ShackShakers in their non-electric moments. Although the album is credited to Elouise in fairness it would seem to be more of an Alice Cooper set-up with all participants contributing to a fairly unique take on a potent musical soundscape, one self-described as “blackgrass”.
Adam Lee Sincerely, Me Self Release
Sincerely is the first solo album from Adam Lee, whose previous album with his band The Dead Horse Sound Company, When the Spirits Move Me, was a more honky-tonk affair. This time Lee has broadened his outlook and tonal palate and has devoted this album in to a side one and side two. However, there is nothing immediately obvious that divides the two sides in terms of content. The last album dealt with themes of country music, while this album, while still touching on those themes, takes a broader viewpoint and looks deeper inside with songs like the title track and Good Days - wherein the man in question faces his drinking demons and hopes to look towards a better future.
Lee has taken a long hard look at life and delivered some honest song-writing that recognises the less savoury and affirming sides of life, but also sees that things could always get better which gives the album a positive outlook. When She Danced views the submerged spirit of a dancer working in a dive bar who transcends the negativity and necessity that are fundamental to that situation. He does this with just a bruised voice and solo piano backing. Misery has a muted guitar-twanged tone that is perfectly in tune with a man facing his inner torments.
Elsewhere Lee blends rock, blues and blue collar sentiments with a little country to create a set of self-written songs that are a précis of where life is for him right now. He has done this with a set of players that he and co-poducer Johnny Kenepaske have assembled for the album. They include Dane Talley on electric guitar, Hanna Rae Mathey on violin, Tim Rose on bass and Paul Andrews on drums. Lee’s contributes various instruments with additional vocal input from Keepsake among others. One track, Hold On adds trombone and trumpet with some hard-nosed guitar. There is a swing to What I Need and again Lee shows versatility in his vocal delivery that pegs him as an assured singer throughout. Patrick is a song with a strong Irish-American theme, both in lyrical content and musical setting. It is about the loss of a brother and the reaction to that by a mother who then calls the surviving brother by the name of the lost sibling.
Lee resides in Chicago. He was a cast member of the stage production Million Dollar Quartet and will tour in support of Sincerely, Me. He shows here that he can produce songs in a range of styles that make this an interesting and entertaining collection highlighting a writer, singer and musician who is developing his muse in a number of different ways. This is a promising and revealing album.
Jack Ingram Midnight Motel Rounder
Looking at my music collection recently an acquaintance asked “Why would you need more than one album from any particular artist in your collection?”.The answer would depend if you’re a fan of Revolver or Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. Music evolves and even if an artist stays largely within specific parameters there are nuances and new found strengths to be discovered in their music. Not necessarily true of all artists - some simply get less interesting with each release - but in the main there is good reason to continue listening. Jack Ingram is one case in point; after 12 albums (the first released in 1995 and the most recent in 2009) I looked forward to listening to his new album. It encompasses all the aspects of his music from the storyteller, the humourist, the roots rocker to more seriously-minded artist.
It also takes a certain self-assurance to make your title song and album opener a song written by another songwriter, Blu Sanders who wrote Midnight Motel , which also closes the album in an acoustic version. Between those bookends are eleven other songs. Nine are either Ingram co-writes or solo written songs, one is by Will Kimbrough (Champion Of The World) while the remainder The Story Of Blaine is an amusing anecdote prefacing the song Blaine’s Ferris Wheel. It is a taste of how an Ingram live show might go. There are also some snatches of ambient dialogue included at the start of a couple of the tracks.
The album sounds right and part of that is down to producer Jon Randall and a team of top notch players like Charlie Sexton on guitar, keyboard player Bukka Allen, drummer Chad Cromwell and contributions from Randall and on background vocals Bruce Robison. But Ingram has a seasoned vocal delivery that is expressive and never leaves you feeling that the process was without a spontaneous element. It’s Always Gonna Rain is song co-written with Lori McKenna and accepts that life has always got hope no matter how it might seem at times.
Two of the songs talk about letting go and relaxing with I Feel like Drinking Tonight and I’m Drinking through It, where the multi-voice closing chorus changes the I’m to We’re. The former is prefaced with a dedication to fellow songwriters Hayes Carll, Todd Snider and Chris Wall amongst others, writers with whom he has doubtless shared a brew or two. The other songs display a deceptive simplicity that serves them well.
This album is classic Ingram and will also appeal to anyone who has a taste for Texas storytelling and songwriter. It may an old motel but it is one that you can feel comfortable in and one that can be returned to whenever you’re passing. After 7 years it is good to have Jack Ingram back on a label that means that many will get the chance to hear this very fine album.
Michael Ubaldini Starshaker Self Release
The man dubbed ‘the rock ’n’ roll poet’ by both fans and critics focuses here on the rock part of his moniker. He has written and produced this album which is an energetic run through 14 songs of rock, roots, blues and a little country (Tombstone Woman - with Gary Brandin on pedal steel). It’s not all hell for leather though, with the occasional introspective song such as Ballad Of Brian Jones, a slice of country blues in tribute to the Rolling Stones’ founder’s roots. Otherwise Ubaldini and the band let loose, play the blues and have fun.
Mrs. Johnson, Simpson & Tucker is a cautionary tale of a man who does want his late night visitors to lead to his outline in chalk on the floor. Late night liaisons forms the theme of House Of Red Lights too. Whole Lotta Nothin’ Blues has a distorted vocal, some harmonica and soulful keys and slippin’ and slidin’ guitar. The Rooster Moans at Midnight, Once Over Twice and Ballad Of An Innocent Man are catchy blue-collar, foot tappin’ rock songs while 9 Ball Shuffle calms things down with a funky 12 bar. Ubaldini knows how to pen a song and place it in a musical context. That’s as true here as in has been on his previous albums. And while this album is a little outside the parameters of Lonesome Highway’s regular route, it has a broad enough musical base to appeal to those who regularly read our reviews.
Ubaldini has built up a steady following for his albums and writing and those acquainted with him will find much to enjoy. It is not going to cause anyone to rethink their musical opinions, but in the context of good time (or should that be bad times too) rock ’n’ blues Starshaker will get you to where you need to go. One listen to the closing song One Good Woman Blues underlines that.
The Goat Roper Rodeo Band Cosmic Country Blue Aveline
A UK acoustic country blues trio based in the North West, the Goat Ropers have recorded this new album with Romeo Stodart (The Magic Numbers) as producer and have achieved a fuller, more rounded sound this time out. The band are Thomas Davis on vocals and double bass, Jim Davis on vocals and lead guitar and Sam Roberts on vocals and rhythm guitar. Here they are joined by some guests (including fellow Magic Numbers members Angie Gannon and Michelle Stodart) to realise these new, self-written songs that build on the vocals harmonies of the trio and their essentially acoustic approach.
The album opener I Got Room has a strongly nasal lead vocal that some may not like but it is one that fits neatly into the vocal mix on the other tracks. The songs are a mix of tempos from adrenalised stompers like Mean Man, Stick It On Red and Catch Me If You Can through a more blues orientated Blossom Blues to the softer harmonies of ballads Old Joanna, My Sweet Woman and the restrained piano and guitar of the closing Hey Chuck. There are 12 slices of the cosmic country that they righteously proclaim throughout. This is a sound influenced by many diverse American acts, but one they are developing to their own ends. This has led to their at times quirky and occasionally sad songs finding favour with the likes of Bob Harris and International Submarine Band member Ian Dunlop.
The Goat Roper Rodeo Band look and sound like a band who would have fitted neatly alongside a similarly-orientated outfit like Quiver back in the 60s. They offer hints of the cosmic side of their sound which aren’t as prominent as they might become in the future but, for now, they are establishing themselves alongside other promising UK bands playing original roots music with a refreshing approach and independent attitude.
Martha Fields Southern White Lies Self Release
For this album Fields has taken a more bluegrass/acoustic route compared to the electric sound of her previous album Long Way From Home. Dobro, fiddle and mandolin are prominent in the sound, all underpinned by double bass and drums. This is a sound that Fields has explored with the band Mountain High previously. This album is under her name however rather than that of Texas Martha, another name she uses. Some of the players here also play with her electric band and are versed in both styles, though in truth the songs could easily adapt to either (or other) formats easily.
The songs are a mix of original songs from Fields and some traditional songs like Lonesome Road Blues and What Are They Doing In Heaven? She has also included Jimmie Rogers’ California Blues, Janis Joplin’s What Good Can Drinkin’ Do? and Mickey Newbury’s Tell Me Baby among the album’s 12 tracks. Front and centre though is Fields’ commanding voice which leads each song with conviction on tales of lies, hard drinking, hard times, lonesome roads and dead ends. American Hologram talks of a poor underclass being shut out of the American Dream to always find themselves on the margins with little to give them hope and so they have to resort to making the best of what little they have.
Martha Fields, on this album, explores another aspect of her musical and familial heritage. She does it with the forcefulness that makes sense of her own story and of those who came before her. This is an album that Fields fans will doubtless want to explore.
Massy Ferguson Run It Right Into The Wall At The Helm
This album features some unashamed rockin’ - with some country rock thrown in for good measure. It is what was once dubbed cow-punk, although this time there is less twang and more of a hard nosed attitude. What is good about these songs is that that have an honesty that rings true. They are not unique or that different to some other acts that have been mentioned in passing, such as Son Volt or The Backsliders, with reference to their music. Massey Ferguson (the name of a sturdy American farm tractor) are a solid and believable band who are committed to their music, and that counts in an era when so much of what is heard refers to another musical era anyway.
Massy Ferguson are Ethan Anderson, Adam Monda, Dave Goedde and Tony Mann; the line-up is guitar, bass, drums and keyboards. They describe themselves as American rock which is a good a description of what they do. I’m assuming that singer Anderson is the primary writer as there are no credits on this promo CD. The album was produced by Johnny Sangster and recorded at Soundhouse Studios in Seattle. There are influences of that city’s grunge heritage in the music. However the things that count are how these songs sound and if they bear repeated playing. They do on both counts and Run It Right into the Wall has enough energy and melody to make the listening experience one that the more rockin’-oriented amongst you will want to return to it’s blue collar heart.
Tim Easton American Fork At The Helm
Tim Easton is another accomplished and lauded songwriter who has some twenty years as a performer and writer under his belt as well as four albums on the New West label. He’s back and he still delivering the goods. This album is produced by Patrick Damphier and goes for a full sound. Damphier employs some fine musicians like steelie Russ Pahl, Michael Rinne on bass, Jon Radford on drums and multi-instrumentalist Robbie Crowell
There are a number of avenues explored in what is a broad palette of well-arranged and melodically structured songs. In the song Elmore James Easton lauds the bluesman in a swampy harmonica-laced groove. Gatekeeper shows off his guitar skills and is another dirty slide guitar-fueled reference to the oil that makes the entertainment industry world turn. He takes a smoother path with Burning Star, a literate song that features piano and steel which give it a dreaminess and longing. There is a darker and grittier, but equally feisty and fun sounding, take for Alaskan Bars (Part 1) which has a growled backing vocal that adds a sense of disquiet to the proceedings. Now Vs Now is an appeal to not get stuck in a state of apathy but rather to take control in whatever way possible. The album opens with Right before Your Own Eyes, a rhythmically realised song with touches of saxophone to bolster the chorus. The eight track (mini) album closes with On My Way, a soft touching song to his young daughter to let her know that he is always thinking of her, even those his chosen path takes him away.
Tim Easton writes songs that are those of one who continues to hone his craft and develop his sound. Here it is a well realised and considered exploration of his previous work as well as pastures new. American Fork is a twist on the folk music of America he grew up with and everything he has distilled since then into his own interpretation of the world he sees on his travels. He is past the gatekeeper and looking to his own future and muse now.