Track Dogs – Blind Summits & Hidden Dips
Take two Irishmen, an Englishman and an American and what do you get? An astonishingly great blend of music . No joke! Garrett Wall, singer, guitar, uke and Irish, Dave Mooney bass and vocals and Irish, Howard Brown, trumpet, vocals and English, Robby K Jones, cajon, banjo, vocals and American.
Named artistically derived from the dark subterranean world of New York’s subways system, they launched in 2006 in Madrid around the eclectic line-up of acoustic guitar, electric bass, trumpet and cajón, and have added banjo, ukulele and mandolin as well as honing their four part vocal harmonies, now very much an integral part of their “sound”. Based in Spain (why not indeed!) they offer “Sun-shiny songs thriving on dark themes behind irresistible rhythms.”
There’s something for everyone in the twists and turns of the album. You’ll find Eagles-influenced folk rock, ‘Cover Your Tracks’. There’s Bill Monroe style bluegrass, ‘Water the Lawn’, plus a rockabilly tilt on Lester Flatt standard, ‘Sleep With One Eye Open’. There’s sassy brass and Rickie Martin in the rumba-tinged opening track, ‘The Way of Things’. The guts of the album boast an original, funky blues number, featuring Blues Brother and James Taylor saxophonist, Lou Marini on ‘Be Your Silver Bullet’. Lu Garnet helps celebrate the crossover of Brit and American with a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Rhiannon’. Stockport-based American cellist Adrianne Wininsky and her partner, arranger/violinist, Chris Demetriou add introspective strings to ‘Peace Inside’. The bilingual song ‘Play Nice’ and ska backbeat of ‘Strange Days’ see Track Dogs tipping their hats towards sun-soaked parts of the world of music. The album’s salty closer is cheeky yet poignant tribute, with Alice Jones, giving it “summat” Yorkshire with her honky harmonium on this sea song seasoning of the late poet Les Barker’s poem, ‘Disaster at Sea’.
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Wayward Jane – The Flood
Wayward Jane is Dan Abrahams on guitar, double bass, vocals (folk genre-busters Dowally and soul-funk The Foo Birds), Sam Gillespie on vocals, guitar, wooden flute (The Brothers Gillespie.), Rachel Petyt on fiddle, vocals (Dowally) and Michael Starkey on 5-string banjo, guitar, vocals (Hannah Read & Michael Starkey). This third album is the culmination of 8 years together, and strong evidence of musicians who have come up through the traditional folk music scene. Each member brings a diverse range of influence and experience to create a distinctive sound. Dan is a multi-instrumentalist and diverse composer/arranger, Sam provides delicate acoustic guitar/wooden flute playing and soaring, vibrato-inflected singing, Rachel’s fiddle sound blends stylistic elements of Scottish folk, gypsy jazz acrobatics and old-time grit and Michael brings a love of American string band music and infectious clawhammer banjo syncopation.
There is a breadth of feeling and mood on display across the album’s twelve tracks drawn from the varied approaches to arrangement and lyrical composition. The result moves fluidly from measured love letters to the band’s hometown through dark soundscapes evoking the lonely high plains, to tender moments touching on the sorrow of current global crises and plaintive melodies composed to calm a young child. These sit side by side with traditional American folk numbers and newly penned old timey reels fit for the hollers of the Appalachian mountains. A modern, transatlantic interpretation of American folk and old-time traditions, blending roots music with fresh arrangements and original compositions. Touching.
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The 19th Street Band – Near Perfect
This is a third album and a reflection of an eventful decade. Caolaidhe (pronounced “Cally”) Davis ( guitar, harmonica & vocalist), with partner fiddle/mandolin/vocalist Meghan Davis, joined by Greg Hardin (bass/vocals) & Patty Dougherty (drums). The 19th Street Band brings together a constellation of Americana, country, and rock, with a spit or two of punk and are characterised by high energy and strong vocal harmonies.
Bridging the musical roots from Ireland to the Appalachian, their eclectic gypsy-rock spirit is infectious and well replicated on this album. From touching on the heartstrings to lifting the spirits to remembering that life is just a beautiful mess, they create a joy-filled chemistry that no crowd can resist, and I have no doubt this band will have every crowd they entertain enthralled by their passion and presence. Joyous.
John Alexander – Face the Wind
Scottish songwriter and guitarist John Alexander brings his latest instalment of dustbowl blues with this collection of life and weather beaten tales that follows on from his previous release ‘Of These Lands’. Produced by Boo Hewerdine and record and mixed at Saltwell Studios in Cambridgeshire by Chris Pepper, the album features a number of guest musicians, including both Boo Hewerdine and Chris Pepper along with Iona MacDonald (Doghouse Roses) on backing vocals and Neil Warden on lap steel guitar.
Alexander says his influences include John Martyn, Greg Brown, Bob Dylan and Muddy Waters, and his soulful lyrics, strong guitar work and storytelling skills reflect that. And if you need populist references, how about Mark Knopfler and Chris Rea at their rootsiest. Honed through solo and live performances, these stories of life and travel sound weather-beaten, and more River Mississipi that River Clyde, his husky voice is perfect to tell tales and evoke moods. Dusty.
Ben Stubbs – Light of my Life
Isle of Wight singer-songwriter Ben Stubbs debut album follows a decade of performing in places as varied as France and Thailand and opportunity to hone a collection of songs bursting with warmth and exuberance and reflecting on past times, places loved and left, getting older, and getting wise to your self. Recorded over two weeks in an Island studio called Empire Sound, alongside local musicians who’re now great friends and band mates, the whole thing was mixed, and then mastered in London.
With influences such as Neil Young, John Mayer, Jack Johnson, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and Bruce Springsteen, he’s aiming high. With breezy country-flavoured tracks like “Live and Let Live”, stripped back honest songs like “Light of My Life”, and bluesy cinematic pieces like “Raised By Man” they all blend nicely making this an impressive debut. He says his ultimate desire is to become a well-known professional recording artist and to continue to work successfully within the music industry. I wish him every success. Impressive.
Old Californio – Metaterranea
Songwriter and lead singer Rich Dembowski, guitarist/ vocalist Woody Aplanalp, (Bobby Womack, Aloe Blacc, Nels Cline, and Thomas Mapfumo), longtime drummer/ vocalist Justin Smith (Howlin Rain, The Seeds), keyboardist Jon Niemann (GospelBeach & session player/arranger, bassist Jason Chesney (Mike Nesmith), guitarist/lap steel Paul Lacques (I See Hawks In LA, Chris Hillman, and Stan Ridgeway) adds his unique guitar and lap steel. Joined by bassist Corey McCormick and drummer Anthony Logerfo both of Neil Young’s rhythm section, Lon Hayes and Andres Renteria contribute additional drums and percussion work respectively.
Album opener ‘Old Kings Road’ is kick ass barroom. ‘Come Undone’ is underpinned by barrelhouse piano that harkens back to The Band. ‘The Swerve’, along with the acoustic and understated ‘Timeless Things’, are companion pieces based loosely on Lucretius’ poem ‘On the Nature of Things’. ‘Destining Again’s mid-tempo, country-esque picture is of a future opening up before you, a journey forward, initially a simple number, sung in harmony, with the complexity of life echoed in a tapestry of vocal harmonies in the end sequence. The winsome acoustic pastoral, ‘Weeds (Wildflowers)’, sees delicate, old timey harmonies, upright bass and brushwork with nylon guitar flourishes. Ragged and brash, ‘The Seer’ is a Crazy Horse-esque stomp, ‘Tired For a Sea’ an acoustic and orchestral hymnal. A ¾ time baritone, ‘Just Like A Cloud’ shifts between heavy dirge and amiable live swing. Their 6th full length release over a 16-year history, is by a band existing confidently in a consistent state of musical evolution. Evolving.
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Robert Rex Waller – See the Big Man Cry
Robert Rex Waller Jr. and Carla Olson have been collaborating on stage and in studio for years. Their duet of ‘Bossier City’ appeared on I See Hawks in L.A.’s Shoulda Been Gold in 2010, Waller featured on two songs on Olson’s Have Harmony, Will Travel (2013), and the two have long enjoyed live work. See The Big Man Cry is the culmination of their collaboration, Olson producing this second solo album. Guests include Waller’s Hawks cohorts Paul Lacques and Paul Marshall as well as John York (The Byrds, Doug Sahm), Benjamin Lecourt (The Wallflowers), Skip Edwards (Dave Alvin, Dwight Yoakam), Stephen McCarthy (The Long Ryders, The Jayhawks), Mike Clinco, Matt Von Roderick and Kaitlin Wolfberg. Pedal steel player JD Walter adds his signature sound and harmony vocals were Gia Ciambotti (Lucinda Williams, Bruce Springsteen),Gregg Sutton (Joe Cocker, Barry Goldberg) as well as Carla Olson.
Waller enjoys experimenting with new genres and exploring the work of songwriters and vocalists he admires. And with a vocal range from deep baritone to upper tenor, Waller is capable of well delivering covers of pop and rock from Bobby Rydell and the Walker Brothers to Bram Tchaikovsky and Bruce Springsteen. There’s even country and Americana songs from Charlie Louvin and Freddie Hart to Gene Clark and Rank & File. And the original by Waller and Hawks’ bassist Paul Marshall melds seamlessly with the style of the covers. So you get a pop and rock side and an Americana and country side. Thematically the record navigates the sadness and pain of love and loss but with hope and a tacit acknowledgment of the healing power of music. Broad.
Spirit of Progressive Rock 