Liam Fitzgerald and the Rainieros 'Last Call' Self-Release

There are numerous bands out there who have a love for a pure country as it was played in the ‘50s and ‘60s. They exist for the music itself and not for dreams and hopes of Nashville stardom and fame. They play for friends and fellow travelers.

Liam Fitzgerald, who grew up in Oregon but moved to Seattle, listened to country music growing up and he sounds as if he never wanted to play anything else. Supported by some like-minded and talented players in Russ Blake on steel guitar, guitarist Johnny Mercury, bassist Tyler Johnson and drummer Donnie Staff Fitzgerald has the players and he also has the songs with these ten self-written songs that are steeped in bar-room philosophy and perspicaciousness. The music takes in honky-tonk, swing and tenacious twang and details life for the lost and loved, the strayed and the Stetsoned.

The titles also tell us about the ups and downs of those who inhabit this neon tinged world; Honky Tonk Hard Times, Long Gone Goodbye, I'm Always Gonna Be In Love With You, Let's go Out Tonight and Last Call. Liam Fitzgerald has a voice that suitshis songs, full of heart, occasional happiness and a lot of human failings. The sound is warm and replicates the analog sound that was the prevalent production sound of those classic vinyl albums that Fitzgerald grew up listening to.

This could be just an academic exercise if the music hadneither life or relevance to his contemporary audience, an audience that, in reality, has little time for what they hear on country radio these days. Liam Fitzgerald is the real deal for those who want to keep alive a musical form that has been written off, for a whole variety of reasons, but won’t lie down and die. This is a call out for those who understand the hardwood honky-tonk floor and how it continues to support them.

Tift Merritt 'Traveling Alone' - YepRoc

Even though Tift Merritt hasn’t yet achieve the commercial success her early albums predicted, she has lost none of her skills as a singer and songwriter. That lack of charting sales has meant that she has shuffled through a series of labels to arrive at her present home with YepRoc, one of the indie labels that still cares for artistic concerns.

Given all that, Tift has gather around her a set of exemplary players which includes Eric Heywood on steel, banjo and guitar, Calexico's John Convertino on drums and Marc Ribot on guitars and ukelele. Producer Tucker Martine (My Morning Jacket andThe Decemberists are among his previous charges) brings a sharp focus to the sound that allows Merritt's emotional charged voice take centre stage.

The title indicates a sense of isolation which runs through these songs. The songs are revealing yet still have an opacity that allows individual interpretation. Titles like Drifting Apart, Still Not Home and Traveling Alone deal with different aspects of being away from home and heart,  though as Tift clarifies she was not alone on her travels due to friends and family.

The uptempo Still Not Home has a rocking feel that underlines the need of urgency to get to that place of refuge. Drifting Apart talks of a slow disintergration of a relationship that is underlined by Andrew Bird's counter vocal. Too Soon To Go has a distinct poignancy that can be read as a reference to a person's passing or that of a missed friendship, or both. Tift has the vocal skill to make these songs universal and sympathetic to the listener who can draw much from the album's overall sense of place, even if that place is shifting as the singer continues her travel. Small Talk Relations uses strings to good effect ona slow ballad of seeking something more than just small talk to sustain a conversation. Tift delivers a powerful vocal for the song. In these players she has a sympathetic set of musicians to give flesh to her songswhich deserve far greater exposure that she has received in the past. That is apart from those who have traveled with her from the start and have always enjoyed her company.

Rosie Flores 'Working Girl's Guitar' - Bloodshot

The talented producer, songwriter, guitarist and singer has helmed her own 11th album. It is a wide ranging album that covers many bases, with touches of all the musical strands pulled into a colourful whole. The title track was written by Ritchie Mintz,  who made the remark to Flores when she wanted to sell him one of her guitars. The song is a testament to the places a guitar gets to go in its working life. It  also highlights Flores’ prowess as both a lead and rhythm guitar player which was evident on her previous albums, but here she takes centre stage.

Little But I'm Loud is a title that sums up Flores' outgoing attitude since she was a member of the Screamin' Sirens in the 70s. It features some fairly nasty guitar infused with a Texas blues attitude. Yeah, Yeah features some decisive pedal steel from Greg Leisz and is tender tribute to her late friend, guitarist Duane Jarvis.  Surf Demon #5 is what it implies; a surf-style instrumental with a swelling organ and a surfing guitar that has touches of a western feel too. Drugstore Rock 'n' Roll is for long-time Flores fans with her distinctive voice taking the Janis Martin cover into familiar territory. Rosie’s take on Love Must Have Passed Me By is a neat touch of nostalgia, a countrypolitan styled duet with Bobby Vee. The tempo picks up for Too Much,  a song to a man who is living up to the title.

That theme of longing and looking for love is also at the heart of If (I Could Be With You). The album closes with a well chosen cover of George Harrison's While My Guitar Gently Weeps, a song which one feels has a special resonance for Flores, who has been a guitar player for a long time and has used the instrument to express both sorrow and exuberance.

Flores has made some great records during her career, from her Pete Anderson produced eponymous debut  to this self-produced album. All credit to her resolve and skill to get things done the way she has wanted to. A real working girl all round.

Larkin Poe 'Thick As Thieves' - Edvins Records

Sister act Megan and Rebecca Lovell formed as Larkin Poe in 2010 and released 4 EPs in the same year – one for each of the seasons. A novel idea and one that has led to the release of this 5th EP, titled ‘Thick as Thieves’. My copy comes with a bonus DVD of a concert given in Norway last year and the abiding impression is one of a band right on top of their form.

Larkin Poe have a mainstream sound that encompasses many genres, none of which adequately describe the unique playing and singing talents of these two sisters from Georgia. Both perform in a beautifully realised style with vocal harmonies that swoop and soar in ways that only siblings can achieve. The seven songs on the latest EP are all strong with my initial interest drawn to Fox, a funky jazz tinged workout. Celebrate is a more rock based number with the slow blues of Make It Hurt resonating with a Bonnie Raitt feel. Overall, a strong set from two talented ladies and well worth checking out.

David Greenberg and Harpeth Rising 'The End Of The World' -Self-Release

These four musicians create an intriguing sound across a mix of cello, violin, banjo and percussion. Labels are often a bore and it would be easy to trot out any number of comparisons here. However, the playing is really a unique blend inspired by a mixture of influences and best experienced first- hand. The interplay between cello and violin is particularly uplifting and colours many of the tracks here with a rich experience.

The band is joined by David Greenberg, who has been given writing credits for all ten tracks. He is the father of Jordana, violin and vocals, and he sounds like Harry Chapin in his vocal delivery on songs that tell of big rigs, lonesome highways and truck stop mommas. The arrangements are full of inventive playing with End of the World a particular stand out.  Nowhereland is also an interesting song with a very traditional feel to it. This band would be a huge success across the traditional music vista of Ireland and their interplay confirms just how close the ties between American folk and Irish music lie. Well worth your hard earned Euro.  

Blame Sally 'Live at KVIEO Studios' - Ninth Street Opus

It is always a pleasant surprise when new music leaves an immediate impression. This four piece female band has been recording for a number of years now and their creative source is the song writing talents of Renée Harcourt and Monica Pasquale. Their range of songs is very impressive with plenty to excite across the 13 tracks taken from a live concert in Sacramento in 2011.

From rock based arrangements into reflective vignettes, both the playing and writing is very strong throughout. Unfortunately, as with all live shows on disc, there is an element of wishing you were there to experience the entire set first hand. That apart, Mona Lisa Smile is beautifully conceived and performed and the haunting Pajaros Sin Alas lingers long after the song has ended. The band play an impressive set coloured with fine guitar work and a rousing cover of Chain of Fools to close the show. Blame Sally merit close attention and a trawl back through their collected works is a journey that I feel compelled to take 

The Foghorn Stringband 'Outshine The Sun' - Self-Release

The Foghorn Stringband are a versatile and enthusiastic quartet who play stringband music with  skill and love for the music that has inspired them through the years.  Now a quartet, they have expanded their range with all the members adding vocals to the 21 songs that have been sourced fromicons as the Carter Family, Hazel Dickens, Charlie Poole and the Stanley Brothers.

In this way they breathe life into songs that are rooted in a different time yet which are, in many cases, as relevant to  today’s audience as they were when first played. Many of  the songs and tunes have an immediate uplifting effect. There are elements of cajun and old school country music mixed into the bluegrass and stringband foundations of the band.

You understand why such  bands were at the centre of social gatherings in the past as you  listen and tap your feet to the music; it would be hard not to be drawn in. But the song choices shouldn't take away from the prowess shown in both the vocal and instrumental departments as this quartet know how to deliver a song to best effect.

This is the sort of  album that may convince those who wouldn't normally be seen listening to what they perceive as a music lost in a fog of time. Listen out and you will hear the foghorn blowing, warning you that these four are coming through and you better be prepared to take notice. It comes in a neat self contained cardboard sleeve too.

Cahalen Morrison & Eli West 'Our Lady Of The Tall Trees' - Self-Release

Another album rooted in acoustic music and shaped by a history. The duo play clawhammer banjo, guitar, mandolin and bouzouki on a set of songs mostly written by Morrison, but with a couple of songs from Norman Blake and Townes Van Zandt. The latter's Loretta is given a poignant reading that does justice to the songs. The two sing in harmony with their sparse but effective picking. This sounds pretty much how you would expect to hear them delivering the songs in person.

The sound is universal and could have emerged in Ireland or the UK as easily as from the US. They cover a lot of land from the vast plains in the traditional The Poor Cowboy to Morrison's Heartland Sea to the closing instrumental Red Prairie Dawn. There is a sleeve note from Tim O'Brien which tells of the scope that two voices and some stringed instruments can have and that "a lot of faith and conviction" inherits their music.

If you like well written songs, played well in a fundamental fashion, then the music of Morrison and West will draw you in. Whether it's the tale of making music to make people smile in Church Street Blues or the traditional tones of Stone To Sand there is much to  absorb in the music made by this talented duo.

Old Tire Swingers 'Old Tire Swingers' - Self-Release

This is another band exhibiting a new found enthusiasm for bluegrass and related acoustic music. The trio played their first show in early 2011 and this is their first album. It shows they've turned 
practice into something practical. The majority of the songs are written by lead singer and banjo player Paul Chesterton which is commendable and brave, as most bands starting out might stick with songs from the classic repertoire. That these guys have come up listening to other musical sources reflects in the nature of the delivery as the songs suggest they could be adapted to another formula. But here they are and they're making this music swing and drive.

The music the Old  Tire Swingers play is not about showing off, rather it is about ensemble playing and serving the song. There are additional players adding fiddle and mandolin to round out the banjo, guitar and upright bass of the band. The album is full of life, of a buoyant outlook summed up by the title of More Good Than Bad. Vocal harmonies fill out the sound and add to the collective strength of  the band.Through the thirteen songs there is a sense that these guys are having as much fun making this music as their audience will have watching or listening to them. Old Tire Swingers have burned some rubber getting here and lovers of old-time, bluegrass and the more 
roots end of Americana should enjoy what these guys do.

Little Big Town 'Tornado' - HumpHead

This album is the first time I gave an ear to Little Big Town. When I first heard their name, I thought they were Bluegrass, discovered they weren’t and left them by the wayside. Big mistake on my part. This is another CD that is outside my normal listening comfort zone and I approached it with caution. I didn’t need to worry, tight four part harmonies with traces of Fleetwood Mac, CSNY, Everly Brothers and even the spine tingling Prelude from the early eighties. All in all very easy on the ear.

It’s not country as we would like it but in these days of genre crossings it does fit very comfortably into a well produced soft country rock vibe. The opening track “Pavement Ends” tempts you in with a very cool banjo and drum mix that sets the pace for all that follows.

LBT are an equal opportunity four part harmony band with no accredited lead singer and the liner notes don’t give you any clues in this direction either. So only the die-hard fans will know who is taking the lead honours. Not that it matters, as the sound is so professional that there is a seamless drift of solo, duet, trio and quartet from track to track and even in individual tracks giving each song a little mystique along the way.

Writing duties are shared by band members, a good sprinkling of rising star Natalie Henby co-writes and includes some of my favourites touring band member in Jedd Hughes, Chris Stapleton and Lori McKenna. Not a bad line up that gives a great mix from the almost bluegrassy blues feel of Front Porch Thing through the Fleetwood Mac styled On Fire Tonight and finishes excellently for me with a single guitar and the tastiest Everlyesque tight harmonies of Night Owl.

This is an album that has me reaching into the archives for a bit more research on this fine band and for the genre police, it ain’t honky tonk but I don’t think that Little Big Town ever intended it to be.

Hank Williams Jr. 'Old School, New Rules' - Bocephus

Hank Jr. is back with an album that leans a whole lot closer to Hank I than Hank III. The title explains it all and this is an old school Country Rocker of an album that makes no excuses for it’s pedigree. The opening track is a twin bladed anthem about getting back to his roots both musically and politically and again makes no apologies on the way.

I missed Hank Jr. the first time round as I was still hooked on John Denver and Peter, Paul and Mary but I always had a sneaky desire to grab a bottle and head off shit-kickin’ in his direction. This album gave me a chance to redeem myself and try a bit of Bocephus philosophy. And I quite liked it.

Ten tracks by Hank Jr., One by Hank Sr. and one by Merle is not a bad tally. The Bocephus songs are written in the style of his Daddy and with the similarity in lyrics and melodies I found myself drifting off in the direction of the originals rather than their new livery. At first I was very uncomfortable with his melody shift on my favourite Hank Sr. song You Win Again but on second or third listen I was able to take it as served.

With an all-star A List band and the old Hank Jr. treatment then it’s hard to see this one fail. And from the reaction to a very well orchestrated Facebook campaign to coincide with it’s launch the demand for hard core country rock is way more obvious than is seen by today’s Country Radio.

At the very least give this one a listen. I think you might by pleasantly surprised. As with Toby Keith I find his hard core right wing politics just a little to strident for my European palate but it really does make for some passionate lyrics and hard driving southern country rock.

Bocephus is back with a bang. 

Toby Keith 'Hope On The Rocks' - HumpHead

If you’re already a Toby Keith fan then you’ll love this but if you’re not, then I don’t think it will swing you into the record store to get your own copy.  All of the fourteen alcohol infused tracks are co-written by Toby and it’s obvious from the lyrics who was the dominant partner in each co-write. The set opens with a power ballad tribute to the social counselling skills of your average life long bar tender and finishes with a live, audience grabber that Keith says “Ain’t never gonna make radio” and if the PC brigade ever hear it he’ll end up carrying two very important parts of his male anatomy around in a jar for the rest of his honky tonkin’ career.

I found the music a little bit on the country side of Lynard Skynard and owing more to Kenny Chesney than Merle or Hank but in combination with the lyrics it’s guaranteed to have legions of deprived Garth Brooks fans screaming in the aisles. If you find yourself listening to this album with a longneck in one hand and a “Daisy Mae” in the other then be prepared to vote a little more right of centre than you did in the past.

The main twelve tracks are contagious foot-tappers and grow on you with each listen but the four bonus tracks I could have done without. Country, mixed for night clubbing, I can well leave where I found it. Make no mistake Toby Keith can sing and knows his audience well and in truth I think he targets his output with a bit more sales marketing in mind than he is given credit for. The lyrics are not for your average caring sensitive feminine sided male but they were never set out to be. And I found myself liking this whole CD a lot more than I planned and it’s more likely to find itself in my Party Pack than in the Sin Bin, where most of the current pop masquerading as country ends up these days.

Good on ya Toby. You got me with this one. Chalk up another hit.

'Honky Tonk' - Portraits of Country Music by Henry Horenstein

 

Horenstein's photography underlines again just how far country music has moved from its roots. It's interesting to note that the most recent photographs in the book are of neo-traditional artists like Bill Kirchen and Dale Watson, photographed in 2011; the earliest pictures in the book are from 1972. It is doubtful the audience, sounds and looks that the Music Row major labels and modern country radio court today would want to be associated with the people represented in these pages  - even back in the day. Many appear to be living and working at subsistence level and the music of the honky-tonks was their outlet and way of letting off steam. 

Yet these people were the lifeblood of the music, seen in such down-home venues as Tootsie's Orchard Lounge on Lower Broadway in Nashville or Hillbilly Ranch in Boston. The photographs show why some acts were pushed away from the honky-tonks and towards the more lucrative cross-over cosmopolitan circuit that the industry favoured and sought. Honky Tonk is not exactly a forgotten world, as all over America there still exists a network of clubs and bars that cater for acts and audiences who still want their music served up as real deal country music. Other photographic books that have covered this scene are Bill Rouda's Nashville Lower Broad,  which focused on the revival of music in that then run-down area of Nashville,a music scene that was started by Greg Garing, Paul Burch and BR5-49. An interesting companion piece is Leon Kagarise's Pure County which covered the music from 1961 to 1971. Kagarise's photography is all in colour while Horenstein's is in black and white and both have their own qualities and validity.

The portraiture in Honky Tonk is both real and realised. Horenstein’s subjects are captured at a specific moment in time; queuing, dancing, drinking, posing or performing. He captures what that genre was over a period of time. Largely in low-key venues he has photographed a grass-roots movement with respect for that particularly American form that inspired him on many levels.

Other striking books by Horenstein have been about the human body, burlesque and animals as well as a manual on moving beyond basic photography. Horenstein clearly has an eye, a gift and a feel for his subjects and Honky Tonk delivers, as Marty Stuart says on the dust jacket, these are "images (that) are timeless treasures".

Ryan Bingham 'Tomorrowland' - Axster Bingham

Those expecting that Ryan Bingham may move in the direction of his CRAZY HEART song The Weary Kind with his new album may be surprised its full on nature of much of the new album. It's all change for Tomorrowland , the first album for his own label Axster Bingham,  a label he formed with his wife after leaving Lost Highway.

Bingham has co-produced the album with Justin Stanley, who also recorded and mixed the album. Ryan has also disbanded The Dead Horses and put together a smaller unit with just drummer Matt Sherrod and bassist Shawn Davis. Bingham plays electric guitar and provides the shredded rust-hued vocals that sound older that his years but which are very much his trademark since his first independent album, 2002’s Wishbone Saloon.

Here the music is sharp and angular with Ryan’s guitar taking centre stage and providing much of the tension in the songs. He also beings some heart into the songs that often are directed attacks on the negativity that surrounds the many lost souls and struggling lives he has surveyed.Bingham does this on the restrained No Help From God with brushed drums and minimal electric guitar. It is a potent song that conveys it's meaning well. It is in contrast with the attack of Guess Who's Knocking with it's expletive vocal refrain. This is a man who sees his country on a road to moral bankruptcy,  where the real money is only for the rich.

His anger is translated into these thirteen songs that, in many ways, are more aligned with his live shows where there is a deal of energy and electricity running like a live current through the music. If you know Ryan Bingham from his previous albums you will know what to expect but TOMORROWLAND switches the notion of country-rock around to give the latter more scope than the former which is fine by me.

Extended listening reveals a beating heart that tells his story and displays his passions. Bingham has taken control of his music and his destiny and, as he says on Neverending Show,   "I don't need no marquee sign, I don't need my name in lights" and he tells us of other's expectation and that he "don't need the rhinestone suit, someone else can hang it on the wall",  rather a real love is what he seeks and he hopes he won't run out of gas traveling to the never ending show to find it. On the strength of this there are many miles and many roads that Ryan Bingham can travel to his Tomorrowland and many will be happy to travel with him

Cody McCaver 'I Just Might Live Forever' - AGR

The former Confederate Railroad man delivers an album that fulfills expectations of what he might do solo. These are songs that play to his audience, songs that declare he is red-blooded (Bow Chukka Wow Wow), redneck (Redneck Friends Of Mine), an outlaw (I Might Just Love Forever) and an everyman (I'm America, Kick It Into 4-Wheel Drive). The music is the kind of country that has  lots of hard guitar over a solid, upfront rhythm section,  with some added texture and fill from piano, B3, harmonica, steel and fiddle under McCaver's down-the-line solid vocals.There are additional vocals from the likes of Colt Ford to bolster the choruses and background vocals. 

These songs from McCaver, with some outside songs, all celebrate a lifestyle and attitude that is textbook good ol' boy country'. For instance Redneck Friends Of Mine tells us that "I like 4-wheel rides and fishing at night and jacked up huntin' trucks, Budweiser and David Allan Coe and think that hip-hop sucks" which just about sums up a certain Bubba philosophy. There are more sensitive songs like Left Side of The Bed with fiddle and steel that offers a more restrained approach than the  more turbo-charged direction that kicks up the dust on many of the songs.

It's easy to see that this is an album that will appeal to those who have a soft spot for Coe, Hank Williams Jr or indeed Confederate Railroad, and if that spins your wheels then you will enjoy Mr. McCaver's love of all things redneck country and he will take you for a 4-wheel musical drive.