Thorbjørn
Risager was an unfamiliar name to me prior to hearing his spectacular
new album, Too Many Roads, recorded
with his band, the Black Tornado.But
I can tell you this much, I will remember his name from now on.This eighth release from Risager, is a
sheer delight and is sure to be a reckoning force on the blues scene this year.In a nutshell, it’s twelve well-crafted songs
delivered via a tight group of musicians operating together like a well-oiled
machine.
Risager
grabs the listener and pulls them in on the first few bars of the lead song, ‘If
You Wanna Leave”, with gritty guitar riffs, reminiscent of GeorgeThorogood
, Eric Clapton-like vocals and soulful hornaccompaniment.
Title track, “Too Many Roads”, follow.I
feel like I’ve been dropped on the corner of the Crossroads in Mississippi when
I hear this song about making the right choices.The way it oozes that endearing swampy sound…
it doesn’t get much better than this.
I love the way Risager’s strong gravelly vocals
rides atop the killer guitar riffs in “High Rollers”, all with the attitude and
energy of the Rolling Stones.This
track, about taking a chance in the game of love, makes me wants to break out the
air guitar and play along.
The beautifully remade “China Gate”, from the 1957
film, takes the listener to a quieter and more solitude spade.Pouring emotion into every note sung and
played, Risager and the Black Tornado make this exceptional song stand-out.
With a touring schedule that consists of 80 – 100 shows
a year, all that’s left to do is cross our fingers and wait for a U.S. leg of
the tour.
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.
Listening
to Rich Mahan’s ten track album, Blame Bobby Bare, is like hitching a
ride on a time machine headed back to the ending of an era when country music was
still raw and listened to on 8-track tapes.Not only was the album inspired by the music of Country music legend Bobby Bare, it was recorded in
Nashville using vintage analog gear.This, along with Mahan’s
brilliantly written verses make this a killer retro-country album.
Jimmy Buffet would be right at home performing
Tex-Mex friendly, “Tequilla Y Mota”, an ode to the weekend bender. I love the
sound of Steve Herman’s mariachi
trumpet coupled with Robby Turner’s pedal
steel and Arlan Oscar’s accordion.
That musical combination ties the song up into one big, tasty tamale. A strong Bruce Springsteen vibe is with Mahan as
he moves the party to another state in ‘Overserved in Alabam’.
Mahan has a great sense of humor,
and it shines through on his song of karmic backlash, “The Hills of South
Dakota”. He finds out the hard way, drinking
scotch and philandering with a bartender may just land him with a problem below
the belt and trouble with his wife.Another song of good times gone bad, “Mama Found My Bong”, is a coming
of age country ditty.The wah-wah
provided by JD Simo puts a big ol’
smile on my face.Mahan’s “Rehab’s For Quitters” is bound to be a country classic,
with quirky lyrics that seem to have fallen off bumper stickers at a truck
stop.If I didn’t know, I would have
sworn this song was written by John
Prine or David Allen Coe.
Rich Mahan is the real deal, and Blame Bobby Bare is a hell of a good
listen.I highly recommend this album to
fans of classic and outlaw country.
He’s over seventy years old
now, and still nothing quite gets in the way of Levon Helm‘s tenacious desire
to make music.Arguably one of the two
most notable people to ever call such a little place like Turkey Scratch,
Arkansas, home.The other being the
legendary Robert Lockwood, Jr.Ramble
at the Ryman, the newest release from Helm, is a live album.Capturing the essence of the old time
medicine shows, he shares the stage with big name talent like Sheryl Crow, John
Hiatt, Buddy Miller, and Billy Bob Thornton to name a few.With Helm handling vocals, drums, and the
mandolin, Larry Campbell on guitar, and (Little) Sammy Davis on harmonica, it’s
quite an impressive arcade of musicians.
Six of the fifteen tracks are
oldies but goodies written by one of Helm’s original band mates from The Band,
Robbie Robertson.Kicking off the show,
is a lively version of “Ophelia“.It’s
such a great song, and sets the mood for a swingin’ good time.Wrapping up the album, we get to hear a
fabulous rendition of “The Weight“, recorded with special guest vocalist, John
Hiatt.And in between, fabulous
performances of“Evangeline“, recorded
with Sheryl Crow, “Rag Mama Rag“, and “The Shape I’m In“.
Harmonica aficionados should
really enjoy the back to back tracks, “Fannie Mae” and “Baby Scratch My Back”.
Davis owns the stage with his riveting harp playing.It’s just great to listen to.Other great listens include the chilling
ballad, “A Train Robbery”.Helm sings
his heart out on this one.Rounding out
the rest of the album, is a very nice cover of Chuck Berry’s “Back to Memphis”.
This event is also available
on DVD, which I plan to picking up sometime soon, because I love the CD so
much.
Rating =5/5
http://www.levonhelm.com/
* Authors note: Originally appeared on BluesRevue.Com's BluesWax online magazine. Posting again, in honor of what would have been Levon's 74th birthday.
Summer
is almost upon us, and it is time to break out the jams.One couldn’t ask for better timing than the tenth
and newest offering, Song in My Head,
from the String Cheese Incident. The whole gang, with Michael Kang and Billy
Nershi at the helm has returned to the studio for the sixth time, after waiting
nine long years to bring us ten tracks of ear candy produced by Talking Heads’ keyboardist Jerry Harrison, to nibble on. These
songs have been a part of their live shows, but have never been put to wax
until now.
One
can surely expect the unexpected, when listening to The String Cheese Incident and imbibing of their special brew,
which is infused with heaping helpings of bluegrass, and progressive rock along
with dashes of country, calypso, and blues. This is certainly the case with “Colorado
Bluebird Sky”.With a countrified bluegrass
beginning and ending, the bridge seemingly breaks free of those handcuffs, isolates
itself from the rest of the song to toss out some spacy guitar licks and get a
little trippy.
Feel
good song, “Let’s Go Outside”, is launched from a poppy and funky launch pad in
which the vocals are borderline rap, much like the Red Hot Chili Peppers are known for. This one is very catchy.And speaking of catchy, the self-prophesizing
song “Song in My Head”, with its old school SCI familiarity, is a very welcome addition to the album.
“Can’t
Wait Another Day”, one of my favorite tracks, and a perfect jam song, is Afro-groove
at the core.I love Keith Moseley’s bass line along with the interesting umbrella of percussion
built by Jason Hann and Michael Travis that guides the song
along its path.“Rosie”, another
favorite, is post-disco dance music served up trance style.It has a splash of Latin influence as well. Kyle
Hollingsworth tackles the keys full force reminding me of the funky R&B
Eighties band, Cameo.
As mentioned
earlier, one really doesn’t know what might be lurking around the corner as SCI
advances from song to song.That’s what
makes Song in My Head so fun and
interesting, and why a spot on my summer play list has been secured for it.
Flesh & Blood, the sixth studio album by
Australian roots band, John Butler Trio
is a sheer delight.Filled with rich melodies
and poignant lyrics, this eleven track album goes down smooth and refreshing
like iced lemonade in the summertime.Backing
Butler this time around is bassist Byron
Luiters and drummer Grant Gerathy.
Butler creates a trippy
environment for “Blame It On Me”, riding a wave of trance-inducing beats laced
with spacy effects. It’ s so
fascinating, I find myself melting into the song, while imagining how enjoyable
it would be to hear an extended version of it played live. The use of steel pans gives the
super-poppy “Only One” an infusion of Caribbean flavor.This is one of those songs that can easily
get stuck in one’s head.
“Spring
to Come”, the opening track, catches my attention with a rhythm reminiscent of Rusted Root, and a message of hope and encouragement
reminding us that ‘out of the darkness, only the light can come’.
Gerathy uses a very industrial
sounding percussion to begin “Livin’ in the City” with. After a few measures, the
song melts into a really funky rhythm accented with bluesy and psychedelic
guitar riffs.Like Anthony Keidis, Butler rolls
his vocals out quickly and very pronounced.I really like this one.“Devil
Woman” is another track I am infatuated with. Tribal beats set a foundation for
a wild old-time spiritual romp intended to exorcise a different kind of demon.
A
splendid album to listen to, Flesh and
Blood invokes an assortment of emotions and feelings.Some songs put me in my quiet space, as
others make me want to dance. I just can’t
seem to stop listening.
Although I didn’t venture out
twenty-five miles to the nearest record store on Record Store Day this year, I did manage to find the RSD release of Jake Bugg’s four-track EP Live
at Silver Platters disc on eBay.Bugg beautifully performs each of his songs
solo and acoustically, pulling one piece from his first and self-titled album,
and two from his Shrangri La album.This stripped-down performance offers yet
another glimpse into how deep his well of talent goes.
The first thing that pops
into my mind when “There’s a Beast and We All Feed It” plays, is uncanny
observation of just how much Bugg
reminds me of a young Bob Dylan
tearing through “Subterranean Homesick Blues”.If this is what he sounds like at twenty years old, I have a feeling we
are in store for an explosion of great music in the future from this troubadour.
“Storm Passes Away”, also from his Shangri La album, is about trying to
piece a relationship back together.This
one is very reminiscent of classic Hank
Williams, both in song styling and performance.
Bugg seems
to draw inspiration from Paul Simon
on “Lightning Bolt”, a magically fast-tempo song with quick rhyming lyrics
laced with hints of blues and classic country. It’s so amazing how rich this
song sounds, I quickly forget this is just one man and his guitar.
Live at Silver Platters , Seattle WA, January 20, 2014,
really has a lot going on for just
being a four track live EP.The only
drawback is that it leaves me wanting more.
