Jaime Wyatt - From Outer Space

2015 – n/a

By Phillip Smith; June 20, 2015

From Outer Space, the latest album from Jaime Wyatt is chock full of rootsy music coated lightly with a layer of pop, covered with crafty lyrics infused with a jolt of Outlaw/Punk attitude.  Wyatt has a distinct flair for songwriting and a devil-may-care style which makes her music so easy to digest and leave one hungry to hear more.  Mark Howard (Lucinda Williams, Tom Waits, REM, U2, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan) being brought onboard to produce, was an excellent decision.  

Wyatt leads the album off with “Marijuana Man”, a fun Dylanesque alt-country track about a free-wheelin’ hippie encounter gone wrong.  She rips it up on guitar and rocks out on “Twisted”, a vibrant song which brings to mind the music of one of my favorite all-female rock bands from the Nineties, The Donnas.  I love the way “I Want to be Your Girl”, hits the ground running and keeps that energy lifted from start to finish.  This song puts me in my happy place. Like a forgotten song off Paul Simon’s Graceland album, “Stone Hotel” is definitely one of the best on this album.  Daryl Johnson keeps a funky bassline going while Don Heffington commandeers the driving drum pulse perfectly fit for Wyatt’s poetic jailhouse themed lyrics. This one is very nice indeed.    

From Outer Space is quite lovely and no less than outstanding.  Wyatt is sure to be a force of reckoning in the music world, and I look forward to hearing more from her in the future.  

http://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/

Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar - Send the Nightingale

2015 – Samantha Martin Music

By Phillip Smith; Feb 28, 2015

The new album from Toronto-based recording artists Samantha Martin and Delta Sugar is sure to draw a lot of attention and adoration.  Boasting a clever mix of blues, roots, country and gospel music, Send the Nightingale is absolutely compelling.  With vocals that fall into the same wheelhouse as Janis Joplin, Martin takes command of each song.  Guitarist Mikey McCallum, along with backing vocalists Sherie Marshall and Stacie Tabb, form Delta Sugar.    

Martin’s influences are also nicely rooted in Sixties soul music as well.  Kicking off with a light rhythm reminiscent of Dusty Springfield’s “Son of a Preacher Man”, is “Addicted”, a proclaiming song of love, and a soulful joyous treat.  The mood suddenly drops on “When You Walk Away”, a heart wrenching song about splitting up.  McCallum on guitar, brings to mind Steve Cropper’s playing on ”(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay”.    

Martin performs “One More Day” with the energy and unbridled exuberance of a gospel band in a southern tent revival.  Complete with obligatory stomps and clap, it’s cloaked in a rootsy and rustic vibe.  To this song, I say “Amen brothers and sisters!”  The song that sticks with me the most though is “Don’t Shoot”.  I absolutely love it.  Martin, like Lucinda Williams, just has an uncanny knack for writing great story-telling songs that rock with a country/western flair.

Excellent songwriting, powerful vocals, fantastic harmonies, and expert musicianship, make Send the Nightingale the wonderful album it is.

   

http://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/

Sam Morrow - Ephemeral

2014 – Forty Below Records

By Phillip Smith; Aug. 9, 2014

Ephemeral, the debut album from singer/songwriter Sam Morrow is anything but ephemeral.  Before I had finished listening to the first of ten songs, “War”, I knew this album was something special.  Singing country-flavored roots songs with a sharp edge of truth, Morrow’s voice reminds me a bit of Eddie Vedder’s.  Morrow delves deep into his own experiences, revisiting the often unpleasant obstacles life blindly tosses around like little grenades.              

Setting the tone for the rest of the album, “War”, invites the listener into Morrow’s melancholy world with despairing lyrics about a husband and father who looks to the bottle for happiness.  Morrow shows great range as a vocalist and writer in the heart wrenchingly beautiful song, “Old Soul”, about the hurt of lost love, and the self-destructive thoughts which go along with it.  “Run” seems to pick up where “Old Soul” leaves off, leaving thoughts of self-destruction behind and replacing them with feelings of anger and declarations of love.  I’m really drawn to its haunting melody, fortified with a cool drum cadence and symphonic strings.  In a Tom Waits fashion, Morrow reexamines the broken relationship with booze, after two years of sobriety, in “December”, a song of reconstruction, remembering and longing.  This softly played guitar and violin tune tugs on my heart strings.

Ephemeral is such a beautifully constructed album of brutal honesty, I can’t get enough of it.  Morrow shines as a writer and performer, and I highly recommend this album.

Luke Tuchscherer - You Get So Alone at Times That it Just Makes Sense

2014 - Luke Tuchscherer & The Little Red Recording Company

By Phillip Smith; June 7, 2014

Alt-rock drummer Luke Tuchscherer of the Whybirds, has ventured out with a little help from his friends, to record a dozen wonderfully written and beautifully performed treasures on his debut album, You Get So Alone at Times That it Just Makes Sense.  Its title so aptly named after a book of poetry by Charles Bukowski, the album consists of extraordinary songs about ordinary people with ordinary thoughts and problems, performed in an alt-country, rootsy story-teller fashion. 

Tom Peters keeps a steady bass drum beat running in the background, while Chris Corney tackles dobro and banjo, accompanying Tuchscherer who plays acoustic guitar on opening track “(Lord Knows) I’m a Bad Man” about infidelity and maneuvering around the guilt-filled baggage tagging along. I love the thick swampy sound the dobro and banjo bring to the song.  This one is definitely one of my favorites. 

Tuchscherer shows off his song-writing chops on “One of Us” as fellow Whybird, Dave Banks joins in with both mandolin and banjo.  Tom Petty’s “Mary Jane’s Last Dance”, comes to mind when I hear this poppy bluegrass tune that tells the despairing tale of an innocent youth from a broken home and the twists and turns which will lead him to a gangster’s life of crime. 

I love the ironic way Tuchscherer can set lyrics seemingly delivered by a henpecked, sad sack drunk directed at his nagging fishwife, to such a pretty melody.  This song of self-awareness, pent up feelings and unconditional love, “I Don’t Need You to Tell Me” features Edwin Ireland on cello and Zoë Robertson on both violin and viola.  

Tuchscherer walks a fine line between alt country and coffee-house rock.  I hear a lot of influence from The Traveling Wilburys, as Tuchscherer sports the songwriting skills of Bob Dylan and Tom Petty, and possesses a voice that is somewhat of a cross between Roy Orbinson and Jeff Lynne. With credentials like that, you can’t go wrong.           

https://soundcloud.com/luketuchscherer