Kyle Nix

Lightning on the Mountain and Other Short Stories

2020

The song Lightning on the Mountain, the first single released from the album of the same name, is reminiscent of the fiddling Carolinian Charlie Daniels, whose single “Devil Went Down to Georgia” is brought to mind, as is the title of his 1974 album Fire on the Mountain. But the fiddle play here, and on the famous Daniels hit, both echo an older tradition, one that ultimately looks back east across the mountains and the ocean, to where the music and the whiskey originated. The lightning in question here is, in fact, in liquid form, the white lightning of George Jones and the Big Bopper, of Waylon and Hank Jr. Everyone loves a bootlegging tale, so it was with great anticipation that I cracked open Lightning on the Mountain and Other Stories, the debut solo album from Kyle Nix

Conceived by Nix as a collection of short stories in song form, as opposed, that is, to a concept album, Lightning on the Mountain opens with a widescreen frontispiece of old-timey fiddle scratch and desert canyon guitar twang, befitting an epic western. The allusion is similar to that employed by the Coen brothers in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, where each vignette is introduced by the turning page of a story book, conjuring childhood memories. Interludes are used at points throughout this album to punctuate the narratives, notably with the portentous prelude to Meet your Maker, and then again at the climax, where the theme is reprised in theatrical, Mariachi style. Between these bookends, Nix spins his disparate tales of love and life, making music that resounds with knowledge, style, and experience of his craft.

Kyle Nix plays fiddle for Turnpike Troubadours, a popular cornerstone of Oklahoma’s red dirt music, and is far from being a newcomer. While Turnpike Troubadours remain on pause as a band, Nix has used the opportunity to spread his wings, bringing his voice and his songs front and centre. Many people may wonder why he has waited until now to step up to the mic? Suffice to say, holding down fiddle duties for a majorly popular touring band can’t leave much time for side projects. With the rest of his band mates in a similar situation with regards to their main band commitments, it makes sense that Nix chose to use them for his solo debut. The result is a rock-solid album encompassing a range of styles from across the spectrum of country and Americana music. The production is crisp, the drums are solid and the guitars twang and chime. There’s steel where needed and Nix’s fiddle propels the arrangements from one story to the next. From a Whiskey Preachin point of view, any record with a track like Shelby 65 would be worth attention, but this collection is no one-track wonder. Let’s see what Kyle Nix has to say about his debut album and his chance to record his songs with a band best know for playing someone else’s songs.

  • It was great to see your song Josephine included in Rolling Stone Country’s music picks of the week. In the review of the song they state that “Nix, the longtime fiddle player in Turnpike Troubadours, is just as powerful under his own name as he is with the band”. In fact, it is the same band. Does it feel strange using the same band without using the name, or was this just the natural thing to do?


It doesn’t. They’re friends first & foremost. We’ve traveled hard together and we know each other’s capabilities so it only made sense to have friends that I trust on my first record. But I also had many other fantastic musicians on the album: Byron Berline, Ian Moore, Kevin “Haystack” Foster (Jason Eady), Grant Tracy (Jason Boland & The Stragglers), Chris Jones & Issac Stalling (Chris Jones & The Flycatchers), Dan Walker (Heart, Ann Wilson), Kullen Fox (Charley Crockett), Chandra Graham & Myra Beasley, Ken Pomeroy... and Wes Sharon, my producer, played bass on several of the songs.  The band, “Turnpike Troubadours”, is the lineup w/ Evan as the frontman and a certain style of song. Some of my songs wouldn’t fit within the realm of the Turnpike Troubadours and that was part of the reason I ended up putting out a record. I knew better than to force certain songs into that space. We have a formula as that band and I wasn’t going to throw a wrench in there.


  • Lightning on the mountain feels familiar and welcoming from the first listen. Obviously, this is your solo project, but it is being realised by the Turnpike Troubadours minus one, Evan Felker. How fair would it be to describe this as a Turnpike Troubadours album in all but name?

I think I answered that above haha

It’s different because they’re my songs. It breaks the Troubadours formula a bit- and it’s different because of the contributions from other artists. Those two combined shake it up a bit. There are songs that are similar to what we did in the band, too, but that’s going to happen given that Me & the guys-Ryan, Gabe, RC, Hank- were a part of that sound.




  • Will you be touring the album with the band but not playing the TT material?

Yeah, I’d like to go on the road when it’s safe to. I’m not going to be jumping the gun though and I won’t be playing Turnpike Troubadours songs. I have a lot of my own to play so I’ll play those.



  • Evan Felker has spoken about his preference for writing alone, quoting John Steinbeck’s line from East of Eden, ‘There’s not ever been a really brilliant co-write.’ Felker has co-written songs in the past, notably with Kevin Russell, Jamie Lin Wilson and several times with ex-band mate John Fullbright and bassist RC Edwards. Is it important to you to keep your songs separate from the Turnpike Troubadours material, to create your own world and tell your own stories?


That’s what I feel that I may have done with this first record. They were mostly songs that came out unabridged and I’ve continued that pattern of writing these last few months. When you write without inhibition, the style seems to fit you personally more than it would if you have somebody else in mind. That being said, I think I could write with/for the Troubadours. I’ve always been a part of the musical composition part of the songs and I’ve gotten better over the past 2-3 years with lyrical composition. I’d be up for it.



  • It’s nearly three years since the release of the last Turnpike Troubadours album in October 2017. When did you start writing the songs for Lightning on the Mountain? Was this album already in your head back then? How long have you been planning this project and been working on these songs? Have some of them been with you for a long time?

I began the process when we were in the studio for that album. I wanted to have some songs in case we needed them so I got busy. We already had enough though so I put mine aside. Then I wrote more: songs from scratch, re-worded songs from old melodies of mine, slapping lyrics on original fiddle tunes, & so on. There was a point in there that I knew I’d have to put them on something, get them out into the world and not let them sit, shrivel & die. 



  • Over a year ago the Turnpike Troubadours decided to have a break from touring. Other than working on Lightning on the Mountain, have you been working on any other projects since TT went quiet? Has the extra time allowed you to play with any other bands or play on other people’s albums?

I’ve just been writing. A lot. And reading and listening and learning. The quiet can afford you those things and I’m taking advantage of it.


  • You’ve combined your love of fiction and western movie scores to create a collection of stories punctuated and bookended with cinematic, Morricone-esque  flourishes, You have described the album as a collection of short stories. Are you more of an Elmore Leonard fan than a Raymond Carver fan? Thom Jones or Flannery O’Conner? Who is your favourite short story writer?

I’ve read Carver & O’Connor...I love Breece D’J Pancake, Shirley Jackson. Hemingway’s “Nick Adams Stories” stand out. The Steve’s: Stephen King & Steve Earle (Doghouse Roses)


  • Do you have a favourite novel? What book would you recommend for us to read?

To Kill A Mockingbird -Harper Lee

The Old Man and the Sea -Ernest Hemingway

The Stand -Stephen King

I like a lot of Stephen King. I can read it quickly & retain the stories. He’s not just a horror guy, either. 



  • You cover a lot of ground on Lightning on the Mountain, from the barnstorming title track, the rollicking Little Miss Jones and the high-octane Shelby 65 (a personal favourite of mine, like Charlie Daniels doing Maybellene), to the more California-facing Josephine, the country soul of Sweet Delta Rose, the back porch bounce of Good Girl Down the Road, the classic bluegrass sound of If Ruby Ain’t Happy, the waltzing lament of Woman of Steel,  and the old timey hoedown of Old Joe Clark. This song set impressively showcases myriad styles of country music. Who are your biggest musical influences?

Bill Monroe, Hank Williams, Dylan, Willie, Chris Cornell, Byron Berline, The Band. And my band. 



  • Oklahoma is slap bang in the middle of south-central USA, with Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, and Arkansas to the east. Do you think this has given OK musicians and bands a specific set of influences that have created the Red Dirt music scene? Do you identify strongly with the Red Dirt scene?

I think we use a myriad of influences and just mix ‘em up in our Bible Belt brains and what comes out is what comes out. I love the “Red Dirt” scene because it’s laced with kind souls and open arms. They’re inclusive, fantastic people and it feels more like family when you’re a part of a “scene” like that. 


  • Who are your favourite fiddle players, from the past or from today?

Michael Cleveland, Kenny Baker, Tommy Jackson, Byron Berline.

I’m close with Byron & he’s taught me a ton these past 6-7 years. It’s great to have someone like Byron help steer you through tough times, give strong advice, show you how he plays a certain tune. 



  • You seem to have been influenced more by bluegrass than by western swing. Is bluegrass bigger than western swing in Oklahoma in general? Or is Bob Wills still the king?

No, not really. I think I just identified with bluegrass as soon as I heard it. To each their own. Bob Wills is still the king but Bill Monroe is “The Father of Bluegrass”. They’re both Kings, really. 



  • Can we expect a second solo album from you some time in the future?

I have a lot of songs...


  • Imagine you are asked to book the bands for your fantasy festival stage, any bands, past or present, dead or alive, who would be on your line up?

Bill Monroe (The Bluegrass Boys w/ Flatt & Scruggs)
Hank Williams

Jimi Hendrix

The Band

Electric Dylan & Solo Dylan

Well, I doubt anyone’s going to be too upset with that festival lineup, but who’s going to headline? It could be said that there is something for everyone on Lightning on the Mountain, from thundering stomps and old-timey hoedowns to red dirt rock and banjo ballads. It may be that some find this diverse stylistic approach to heterogeneous for their taste, but from where I’m listening it demonstrates a wealth of experience and song craft that deserves attention.

Tony Sexton

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Nocona

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Los Dos

Mule Kick Records

2020

As with most of us, the circumstances of the Coronavirus pandemic prompted Nocona's husband and wife team, Chris and Adrienne Isom, to make big changes to their lives and to reassess the way they do things. Their new album, released on Mule Kick Records on 10th July, was initially slated for a later release date.

Mule Kick was originally created as a production company to support a film being made by Adrienne about the legendary LA nightclub, The Palomino. In its day, the North Hollywood country music hot spot hosted sets from legends such as The Everly Brothers, Johnny Cash, Buck Owens, Patsy Cline and Willie Nelson, as well as proving fertile ground for the next generation of country rockers, artists like Delaney Bramlett, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Linda Ronstadt, Jerry Jeff Walker and Hoyt Axton. Jerry Lee Lewis used to play there at least once a year, right up until the late 80's, and even Elvis Presley once turned up to perform an impromptu set. When California went into quarantine lockdown, filming, of course had to be put on hold, but it's a documentary I am very much looking forward to seeing when it can finally be completed.

Meanwhile, Nocona had the music for Los Dos already recorded, in the can, and the decision was made to focus on releasing the album first. You'll be glad they did. When you listen to Los Dos and the first track, Stabby Mike, hits you right between the ears, you might wonder why Whiskey Preachin would review a record like this. The sound of the opening number is certainly more akin to indie punk trailblazers The Pixies, or maybe the lesser known Dr Dog, than the other albums we have reviewed so far. Just hold your horses a minute, there's definitely something of the high lonesome in that chorus and, as you ride Justin Smith's steam-train drums on the bluegrassy second track, Chasing Your Shadow, all the way to the chugging Allmans/Black Crowes groove of Free Throw, you know the party has well and truly started. You're deep in Whiskey Preachin country now, and this train ride gets real crazy from here on in. The blistering Chester, a take-no-prisoners frenzy, expands of the Exile-era Stones template, all rip-roaring riffs, slippery slide guitar and Elan Glasser's screaming harmonica, making for an absolute belter of a tune. In fact, we recently opened one of our Whiskey Preachin radio shows with it, we love it that much.

Just when you think you know where you are with Los Dos, the Americana roots sound is suddenly infused with some very English influences on Tabernacle Woes, bringing the kind of Bert Jansch/Nick Drake arpeggio guitar picking that Chicagoan Riley Walker has adapted so well. It's just a layer of flavour, though, that's added to the overall sound, and one of several songs that comes with an almost cinematic feel. With the delicate flourishes of Xander Hitzig's fiddle accompaniment, I could certainly imagine Tabernacle Woes sound tracking many of the dark dystopian westerns I like so much. Never Come Back follows, with Chris Isom's vocals coming across like a pitched up Jagger, the lovely guitar and pedal steel lines really melding together to make this track. Post Apocalyptic Blues is co-written with album producer and New York amigo Jay Braun, and it keeps its tongue firmly in its cheek. Sometimes gallows humour is all we have left to get us through those hard times. Too Much To Lose follows, with its liquid bottleneck slide conjuring up images of the Burritos getting down with Mick Taylor. There's some frenzied piano from guest keyboardist Carl Byron and an indie influence coming through, this time courtesy of a vocal reminiscent of Supergrass frontman Gaz Coombes. Unseen Hand then opens up, bringing us more celluloid-invoking West Coast sounds, and maybe just a pinch of Fleetwood Mac. This track really creeps up on you, though, and before you know it you're slap bang in the middle of one of Nocona's super tight jams, hitting hard as Aerosmith once did in their magisterial 70's pomp. The dancing drums of Old Bones are then joined with atmospheric fiddle and ghostly harmonica as the band get deep into their groove again.

The whole album was recorded live in the Isom's garage ,and what a great sounding garage they have. With no need for the musicians to keep an eye on the studio clock, they really allowed themselves the time to get immersed deep inside the music, but they were astute enough to never let the jamming outstay it's welcome. Ace In The Hole feels like a fitting closer to the album, with the sweet vocal harmonies joining Chris' lead, coming across how Marc Bolan may have sounded if he had grown up in the Hollywood hills instead of east London.

For myriad reasons, the City of Angels looms large over this record, with its mix of grit and glamour. Although the country music roots run deep throughout Los Dos, there are so many diverse influences going on here it's a record that defies attempts to pin it down.

Michael Hosie

Kendell Marvel

Solid Gold Sounds

Easy Eye Sound

2019

Time has been tight at the WP ranch. There are lots of exciting things happening, which has made finding time to listen to new music a challenge, while making time to write reviews all but impossible. But when an album as good as Solid Gold Sounds hits the turntable, we would be doing ourselves, and you, a disservice if we didn’t get something down.

Kendell Marvel - Photo by Alysse Gafkjen

Kendell Marvel - Photo by Alysse Gafkjen

Kendell Marvel is a Nashville-based songwriter who has had his material recorded by WP favourite Jamey Johnson and the great George Strait, as well as Chris Stapleton, Lee Ann Womack and the Brothers Osbourne, to pick a bunch of cherries. His previous album, 2017’s Lowdown and Lonesome, was a slice of modern outlaw country that received more than it’s fair share of spins here at Whiskey Preachin. With his new album, Solid Gold Sounds, produced by Dave Ferguson (John Prine, Mac Wiseman, Del McCoury) and Dan Auerbach, for Auerbach’s Nashville-based Easy Eye Sound label, Marvel has delivered one of the strongest country records of 2019, a perfect fit for the Whiskey Preachin sound, pure twang and groove from start to finish.

2107’s Lowdown and Lonesome album by Kendell Marvel

2107’s Lowdown and Lonesome album by Kendell Marvel

Marvel has all the bourbon-drenched swagger you would want from an outlaw, but these songs are crafted to last the test of time. Marvel’s voice works about as well as anyone could hope for on this material, as well, to the point that you wonder why he has spent so long behind the pen, rather than the mic. Auerbach recorded the vocals in a way that allows the deep resonance in Marvel’s voice to be maximised, getting him to sing more softly to draw out those tones and then turning up the volume for the full punch. The result is wonderful.

With Solid Gold Sounds following on the heels of the critically lauded album from Yola, previously unreleased albums by Link Wray, and albums from Mississippi bluesman Leo Bud Welch and Oakland’s garage soul combo Shannon and The Clams, Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound label has quickly established itself as one to watch. With the release of Marvel’s Solid Gold Sounds, that attention is guaranteed, at least from this corner of the world.

 Tony Sexton

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Lasers Lasers Birmingham

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Warning

Lasers Lasers Birmingham

2019

What constitutes a country music album in 2019? How about twenty, or forty years ago? Would the answer be the same? In 1979, the CMA pegged Kenny Roger’s album The Gambler as album of the year, while the award for single of the year went to the Charlie Daniels Band’s The Devil Went Down to Georgia. Go back another ten years to when we last set foot on the moon and Nixon was just in the White House, and those same CMA awards went to Johnny Cash’s At San Quentin album and his single A Boy Named Sue. The CMA award for female vocalist of the year in ’69 and ’79 were Tammy Wynette and Crystal Gayle respectively. No one is going to argue with you about the country credentials of Tammy Wynette or Johnny Cash, but what about the countrypolitan pop stylings of Crystal Gayle or Kenny Rogers? Times, tastes and styles change, in country music as much as anywhere else, thankfully.

The man behind the moniker - Alex Owen is Lasers Lasers Birmingham

LA-based Alex Owen is not exactly a country singer, in the way that Gram Parsons was not really a country singer, at least not like George Jones or Ernest Tubb were country singers. That doesn’t mean that his new Lasers Lasers Birmingham album, Warning, is not a country album, in the way that Grievous Angel was, without doubt. There’s steel, fiddle and tele-twang aplenty backing up Owen’s 21st century country rock styling, stoned waltzes and honky tonk laments, ticking the boxes on instrumentation and time signatures. Lyrically, these songs lean towards the cosmic end of the country rock spectrum, with a subtle world-weariness bordering on acceptance of the half empty glass that is life today. As Owen  puts it, nobody’s asking for perfection, but it can’t hurt to approach it, surely. Lasers Lasers Birmingham doesn’t try to reinvent any wheels here, or to set them on fire. In fact, there is enough heart worn on the LLB sleeve to recognise the touchstones and guess at the record collection  this sound has coalesced from, the albums and artists that Owen tends towards; particularly Parsons, potentially Gene Clark, probably Eagles, this is Californian country rock, after all.

Warning is the first full-length album from LLB, and the country rock setting for the songs suits Owen’s material well, as does the loving production of Jason Soda (who has worked with a couple of other WP favourites,  Gospel BeacH (a great live band to see, fronted by Brent Redemaker of Beechwood Sparks) and Miranda Lee Richards, on her lovely album Existential Beast). There was a four track EP, Royal Blue, released in 2016, which shows the direction Lasers Lasers Birmingham was moving in to get to this current album. It is interesting to compare the title track, Warning, with the version from 2014, where the sound is not country rock at all, rather a slightly baroque pop, more a cross between the Beach Boys and Pink Floyd  than the Flying Burrito Brothers. You can check out this early version on Bandcamp.

The Royal Blue EP form 2016

Warning is no pastiche of the past, mind you. This album is a very modern take on the classic formula, a record that deserves repeat listening, packed full of melody as it is, hooks to hold you, until it makes you reach for that battered copy of GP. Alex Owen has created a sound of his own using the same ingredients his favourite artists have used for decades, but his is a modern sound, one that should chime with a broad audience, if there’s any justice. Warning is a country record that should appeal to fans of Bon Iver as well as fans of Bobby Bare, and that’s no mean feat.

Tony Sexton

Black Deer Festival

Black Deer Pennant - Photo by Pat Comer

Eridge Park, Kent

21st - 23rd June 2019

The year continues a pace, skidding past like a jack-knifing juggernaut, months passing in the blink of an eye. June was gone in a flash, largely because we had been anticipating our return Black Deer festival. This was Whiskey Preachin's second time at Black Deer, and we were blessed with perfect festival weather; no rain, plenty of sunshine, and enough cloud cover to prevent over-heating. We had been asked to play some of our favourite records to round off Friday and Saturday nights in Haley’s bar, the stage that was to host some of our favourite bands over the weekend. We had an absolute blast spinning our best gumbo rock and outlaw boogie for the enthusiastic crowd. Thanks to all that came and tore up floor for us.

The Ridge Stage - Photo by Pay Comer

Black Deer must be very happy that their second year was so successful. Without being party to the stats, it felt as if there were more people on site than last year. The cashless experiment was hopefully received positively overall, despite the occasional grumble that could be overheard to start with. Once again, there was a great diversity of music across the weekend, catering to the more popular end of the market while managing to satisfy the aficionado, no mean feat.

Having negotiated our way through accreditation, pitched camp and cleared security, we made our way into the festival arena, the beautiful setting of Eridge Park. As we arrived, the familiar refrain of Me and Bobby McGee caught our ear and drew us toward the Ridge Stage, just in time catch the living legend, Kris Kristofferson. Sure, he was a little shaky at times, and he never has had the greatest voice, but boy, can he pen a tune, and, for a man about to celebrate his 83rd birthday, he still has great presence. It was a joy to join the crowd singing such classics with the man responsible for them.

Kris Kristofferson - Photo by Louise Roberts

Last year we were lucky enough to play records after The Sheepdogs, which was always going to be difficult to beat. This year, on the Friday night we had the great pleasure of following another Whiskey Preachin favourite, Sam Morrow. Sam’s sound is somewhere between funky rock and west coast twang, a little outlaw, a lot of LA and a whole load of groove. The people were ready for their first night to go with a bang and the tent was packed as Morrow’s band laid down tune after tune of the good stuff. Their version of WP favourite Shotgun Willie (from Willie Nelson’s Atlantic album, of the same name) was a lot of fun, as was their cover of Don William’s country disco nugget, Tulsa Time. If we had needed a boost before spinning our tunes, Sam Morrow and his band certainly put us where we needed to be.

Photo by WP

The rest of Friday night is a collection of fragments and blurs stitched together like a patchwork quilt, albeit one with more patches missing that present. Suffice to say, Haley’s bar was rammed, and the floor was jumping. We kept things fairly funky, in a WP kinda way, before handing over duties to DJ Hank JD Sleek, who was also running the Texas two-step classes the following morning.

Texas Two-Step Lessons with Hank JD Sleek - Photo by Ania Shrimpton

We didn’t make Hank’s two-step lesson on Saturday morning, deciding that a quick trip to nearby Tunbridge Wells and a hearty breakfast was probably a good option. One of the great things about Black Deer is its size and proximity to civilisation (if you class Tunbridge Wells as civilised). Never overcrowded or cramped, there is always somewhere on site to sit, relax and watch the people go by, but it is very easy to get away from the site and into town if you need a break, or if you have forgotten something. An hour spent away from the festival site and we were ready to get back to it.   

Main Stage at Black Deer, Saturday Lunchtime - Photo by WP

Main Stage at Black Deer, Saturday Lunchtime - Photo by WP

Ryan Bingham kept the Ridge stage packed for his Saturday afternoon set, even if he was nearly upstaged by his excellent backing singers, who complimented his almost Dylan-esque country vocal delivery nicely. Elsewhere, Martin Harley played two sets on the Saturday afternoon, an acoustic set in the Roadhouse and the one we caught in Haley’s Bar, his first gig with a full band in at least six years. If he’d had concerns, he needn't have. Both the drummer and bass player really complimented Harley's exceptional guitar playing and the new songs they debuted, which the band had recently been recording together in Wales, certainly whet the appetite for the forthcoming album. He's playing several dates around the UK this year, so catch him if you can.

Martin Harley in Haley’s Bar - Photo by Ania Shrimpton

Speaking of exceptional guitarists, The Sheepdogs have at least three of them, we couldn't have asked for a better band to round off Saturday night. They even have a song for the occasion, delivered expertly to the packed crowd, along with several more from their excellent Changing Colours album. It's a great sight to see the genuine look of surprise on faces in the audience as they witness the 'Dogs and their tight harmonising guitar lines for the first time. It's the same look that was on our faces when we caught them at Black Deer last year, a real treat. In fact, the band have been touring solidly for the past eighteen months. Drummer Sam Corbett took some time out for cancer treatment, but he is thankfully back in the saddle after getting the all clear, and this time performing as a father having celebrated the birth of his first child (our heartfelt congratulations on both counts, Sam).  While chatting with Ewan and Ryan from the band, we also heard that Ewan was looking forward to a bit of peace and quiet, and the chance to write the new album before heading into the studio. If you get the chance to see The Sheepdog’s perform live, don’t miss it. The albums are great, but live they really are at the top of their game. 

The Sheepdogs Take Control - Jimmy Bowskill (centre) and Ewan Currie (right) - Photo by Unknown

Ewan and Ryan from The Sheepdogs taking a moment out to talk to us - Photo by WP

Award for the orneriest performer of the weekend has to go to Justin Townes Earl, whose set on the Main Stage was sprinkled with his entertaining stories and his colourful language, despite attempts backstage to manage his vocab. Although his barbed comments to the audience were all delivered with a prickly humour, it was apparent that you wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of him. Clearly his father’s son, but for God's sake, whatever you do, don't request Guitar Town!

Justin Townes Earle on the Main Stage - Photo by Pat Comer

As the festival rolled into Sunday, it still had surprises to give up. We had been looking forward to seeing Paul Cauthen’s set on Sunday evening, but we were also fortunate to see him solo in the afternoon. Interjecting wry stories between his strumming and singing, Cauthen performed a selection of his slower material, the songs chosen to show off the full power of his voice in an acoustic setting, bringing a gospel tinge to his tales of weary excess.

Blind Boy Paxton - Photo by Unknown

The acoustic delights continued in Haley’s Bar with Blind Boy Paxton, an incredibly talented multi-instrumentalist and raconteur who delighted the early evening crowd with his renditions of swing, ragtime and old-timey music, demonstrating his prowess on the fiddle, guitar, banjo, harmonica, piano and spoons, not to mention his wonderful sense of humour, charming story-telling and his poetry recital. Any normal person would probably be content to play any one of these instruments as well as Paxton. This is no simple one-man-band shtick, this is exceptional manifest talent.

Paul Cauthen in Haley’s Bar - Photo by Louise Roberts

Black Deer 2019 didn’t go out with a whimper on Sunday night, either. We had been highly anticipating the full band performance by Texan Paul Cauthen, and, having looked forward to this moment all weekend, the man and the band turned it on and let it rip. The music was more r&b influenced than expected, but the twang was still there, and the crowd loved it. The dance floor was jumping and the faces were smiling all around by the time he closed the set with current single, Cocaine Country Dancing, a slice of twenty-first century honky tonk disco to blow the cobwebs away. By WP standards, this was the peak point of the Sunday, satisfaction guaranteed. The final band of the night were an extremely popular act, The Dead South. While not exactly where Whiskey Preachin focus our attention, the band had the tent jam packed to the gunwales with their brand of orchestrated alt.old-timey bluegrass. It was a thoroughly enjoyable performance that had the audience in rapture, but it would have been nice to get to the bar!

Main Stage, Black Deer 2019 - Photo by Ania Shrimpton

As the over-turned semi that is 2019 continues to gauge strips of worn out asphalt from our heart-worn highway, not only can find relief in our memories of good times spent with friends, we can look ahead to the good times to come and the friends yet to become. Roll on 2020; rock on Black Deer.

 

 

 

Quaker City Night Hawks

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QCNH

Lightning Rod Records

2019

 

Texas music, like Texas oil, is the result of sedimentary processes. Laid down over time,  the constituent parts undergo a transformation, occasionally bubbling up to the surface or bursting forth as something potent, part of the landscape .

Think of the music of Lightnin' Hopkins, ZZ Top, Townes Van Zandt, Buddy Holly, 13th Floor Elevators or Willie Nelson; they're all different, all hugely influential, and yet all totally Texan. Quaker City Night Hawks, hailing from the Lone Star city of Fort Worth, started out as another talented and entertaining country rock band. Then, after a couple of low-key releases, something special happened. With their first recording for Nashville’s independent Lighting Rod records, El Astronauta, a damn-near perfect album, the band added to their mix a slew of 70's influences, including the funky rock of Aerosmith, the heads-down boogie of ZZ Top and the expansive psychedelia of Pink Floyd. Eschewing the traditional tropes of country rock lyrics, they embraced sci-fi themes and other-worldly tales, creating what is probably my favourite album of 2016. Now it's 2019, and the band are back with their new album, QCNH. So where to next for our intrepid explorers?

With QCNH, Quaker City Night Hawks once again deliver a fine collection of songs, building on their earlier sound, but expanding their colour palate even further. Things kick off with Better In The Morning, with its catchy, swinging, loose-rolling rhythm and a nagging hook that recalls the J Geils Band. There’s a lyrical nod to the supernatural subject matter of the previous album, but this time it is vampires frequenting the dive bar on the corner, "where the whiskey makes the blood so thin". Then things get decidedly funky with the strutting Suit In The Back - imagine Lynyrd Skynyrd down the disco, if you can - with Sam Anderson’s falsetto vocals occasionally edging towards modern R'n'B, it's got style and it's self-assured. The following track, Colorado, sees the vocals delivered by main QCNY singer David Matsler, taking us back to more familiar territory, but the music here might be associate more with the West Coast sound, rather than the Rocky Mountain state of the title. It's the kind of hazy, lazy sound that Californian studio maverick and uber-hippy Jonathan Wilson conjures up, with a lilting guitar line that could have been gently wept by George Harrison himself. More Californian influences are up next on Pay To Play, where Aaron Haynes’ intriguing drum-intro gives way to tight Eagles-like harmonies. It's a shiny, sun drenched sound that producer, ex-White Demin guitarist Austin Jenkins, conjured up with the band at his studio, Niles City Sound, and this tune wouldn't be out of place in a Balearic DJ set.


 

If all this sounds like the Night Hawks have left their rockin' roots far behind, fear not. In fact, they've brought some of them along from a previous album. Fox In the Henhouse was one of stand out tracks on an earlier album, Honcho. Clearly the band felt they had unfinished business with this one, but the newer version is not a million miles away from the one laid down in 2013, still greasy and ragged but sounding like it has been schooled by a million miles on the road. The rock is ratcheted up another notch with Hunters Moon, the heaviest track here. A headbanging gallop with Sabbath-style drums and swirling Hammond organ, this one would tick most boxes on any stoner rock fans check list. It would be nice to think that it takes some influence from original Fort Worth proto-metal act, Bloodrock. 



A tongue-in-cheek nod to the lyrics from the Rolling Stones’ Sympathy For the Devil starts the cautionary tale of messianic war veteran Elijah Ramsey, although the music itself is more akin to the Chris Robinson Brotherhood, or late-era Black Crowes’ mellower moments. You can almost smell the joss sticks and incense burning as the track eventually gives way to a creeping analogue synthesiser arpeggio, leading into yet more psychedelia and atmospheric drums in the form of Grackle King. Unlike previous records, this album definitely feels like the band have been paying attention to some of their contemporaries. Jonathan Wilson is recalled once more, as well as Nashville psyche-rockers All Them Witches, and even fellow Texans, Midlake. Possibly, the only misstep on QCNH  is the track Tired Of You Leaving, not a bad song in itself, with its intricate drum pattern and Sly Stone licks, but there's something about the overall sound that is too akin to the Acid Jazz vibe of the early 90s, and that just feels out of place in this selection of songs. The band gets back on track immediately, though, with the albums closer. Freedom is a stomper with a Pump-It-Up rhythm and the kind of bluster that reminds us how exciting the Kings Of Leon sounded, back before they were jaded by their own success.

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All in all, then, this may not be as definitive or bold a creation as their last album, El Astronauta, with its laser-focused sound, but QCNH is packed full of great songs and is clearly the statement of a band still hungry and full of desire, needing to explore boundaries, drilling down deep, looking for that next oil strike.

Michael Hosie

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The Chris Robinson Brotherhood

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Betty's Midwestern Magick Blends Vol. 4

 Silver Arrow

 2018

There are two bands it's hard not to mention when talking about the Chris Robinson Brotherhood. One is, of course, the Black Crowes, the group Chris Robinson formed with his brother Rich, a band that brought some much-needed roll to the 90's rock scene before their volatile relationship and sibling rivalry finally became too much for both to continue in the same outfit. The other is the Grateful Dead, who's example of constant touring, while changing the set list every night for their travelling fans, and then releasing those shows on a multitude of live recording, seems to have been taken as an instruction manual of how a modern band can not only survive, but prosper on their own terms in this age of something-for-nothing streaming services.

 

The Grateful Dead references don't end there, either. This live recording, and several others CRB have released on their own label, Silver Arrow, since 2013, was captured by the legendary Betty Cantor-Jackson, a recording engineer who taped hundreds of Grateful Dead concerts during Garcia & co.'s peak years. Her ability to capture the magic(k) of a band in full flight has certainly not faded with time.

 

This set kicks off with rolling ivories, heralding Forever As The Moon, a keyboard line that bares more than a passing resemblance to the intro of the Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker). The snaking slide guitar of Neal Casal that soon accompanies the piano vamp does nothing to dispel the Stones comparisons, although the lyrical poetry owes more to Dylan than Jagger in this instance. In fact, most of the tracks selected here represent the more rootsy side of CRB's recent output. Psychedelic interludes and flourishes still remain, though, and the bands ability to stretch out and jam is shown off to fine effect, especially on the barnstorming 11-minute version of the Jerry Leiber-penned, southern soul hit, Down Home Girl, originally recorded by Alvin Robinson. Peppered with some deliciously funky Sly Stone clavinet, it would almost be worth the price of the concert ticket just to see this performed live. The yearning cowboy melodies of Shadow Cosmos follows, then lead on to possibly their biggest song yet, the epic Narcissus Soaking Wet. A-10 minute monster jam that definitively answers the question "What would it have sounded like if Pink Floyd and Stevie Wonder had got it together in their mid-70's pomp. Robinson spits out a couple of bad-ass honking harmonica solos before Neal Casal lets rip with a stratospheric guitar solo.

 

Casal originally started off playing for Rickey Medlockes' southern rockers Blackfoot, before making a name for himself in Ryan Adams backing band the Cardinals. Apart from his role in CRB, he also currently plays with Hard Working Americans, The Skiffle Players and Circles Around the Sun. His quality guitar playing and song writing always add a real touch of class to every project he's involved in. But back to the gig, and the soul/prog experiments continue on Precious Precious. originally a hit for Jacksonville soul diva Jackie Moore and here featuring a mammoth Moog solo that I'm certain was never envisioned by the writers when the song was first composed. For Black Crowes fans yet to experience Chris Robinsons current direction, the most Marmite aspect will most likely be those keyboards. The bending analogue sythesizer lines of Adam McDougall play a prominent role in much of the music made here, which can be a shock to those used to the Humble Pie / Faces grittiness of those early Crowes releases. There can certainly be a fine line between the Mothership funk of Bernie Worrell and the theme from Grange Hill and, although the combination of sounds at first seemed like very odd bedfellows to me, I have really grown to love the qualities that sound brings. Quite often it's the grit in the oyster that elevates the CRB output into something truly unique. Another cover follows in the form of Magic Carpet Ride, a faithful, if more fleet-of-foot, rendition than the Steppenwolf original. Those feet well and truly leave the ground when the band ignite their rocket boots and launch into full wig out mode (twice!). Then it's back to the original compositions with the desert blues of Somewhere Past the Sunset, recalling Texan guitar god Joe Ely, amongst others. This is followed by a magnificent version of one of my favourite CRB tunes, New Cannonball Rag, which, at nearly 13-minutes, takes the Deadhead boogie of the studio version right out to the edge of the Solar System and back.

 

Robinson’s vocal dexterity is on fine display all throughout these recordings, but especially during It's All Over Now, Baby Blue. Most of Dylans' compositions have been covered several times and this one is no exception, yet despite the rarified company, Chris more than holds his own, as the band add shades of Leon Russell to this spin on this old classic. I've always been a big fan of Robinson’s delivery, right back from when I got to see them in Manchester on their first UK tour waaay back in 1990. Considering his herbal requirements and his relentless touring schedule, his voice has survived remarkably well in a way that belies his age. The register is maybe a fraction deeper and the edges a little more grizzled, but he was, and remains, a rock singer of unique quality and soul. Backed by a band that plays with all the assurance of The Band, the audacity of the Allmans and is free of the shackles of expectation that comes with having to play songs you first wrote nearly 30 years ago, you can just tell that Robinson is right where he needs to be at this point in his career, and enjoying every minute of it. You can hear it in the assured delivery of the last two CRB compositions, Ain't It Hard But Fair and California Hymn, and, as if to silence those blinkered old Black Crowes fans who just won't be happy unless Chris Robinson is shaking his moneymaker to a Stones back-beat, this quality collection finishes with a dynamite rendition of Let It Bleed that could only come from that wily old Crowe.

 Michael Hosie





 

JP Harris

Sometimes Dogs Bark At Nothing

Free Dirt Records

2018

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I’ve been a JP Harris fan for some time now. I was lucky to spin a handful tunes at a gig he played in Brighton a few of years back. I picked up his two albums and soon started playing Gear Jammin Daddy (form the JP Harris and the Tough Choices album I’ll Keep Calling, 2012) in our Whiskey Preachin DJ sets. When, soon after that gig, we started the Whiskey Preachin Radio Show, Gear Jammin Daddy took pole position as the opening tune on the first show.

Photo by Giles Clement

Released on Maryland’s Free Dirt records (who also brought us top notch albums form Western Centuries, The Hackensaw Boys and Porky LaFarge, among others), Sometimes Dogs Bark at Nothing was always going to be of interest to the WP ears, naturally. It was only a matter of seconds after the first track started that I knew it was going to have to open one of our shows (it’s the first track on the September 2018 Pt.2 show, there’s a link at the bottom of the page).

JP’s Florida Blues #1 opens the album, riding an organ groove and insistent drums, with backing singers reminiscent of an Elvis comeback show and lyrics that should draw attention form FHP.  JPH spins a tale of losing his mind out on the highway, when it’s 85 degrees and snowing. This one is guaranteed to be heard in WP sets for years to come. In fact, there are several track from this fine album that are sure to be getting plenty of WP attention, including Hard Road and Jimmy’s Dead and Gone (both up-tempo numbers suited to our favourite Friday night whiskey joint) as well as Runaway (a dobro-drenched head-nodder) and When I Quit Drinking (a lovely slice of mid-tempo honky tonk).The dobro forms the backbone of the title track as well, allowing Harris to show of his singer-songwriter credentials, while I Only Drink Alone drops the lights and the tempo for a gently swinging honky tonk lament.

Now based in Music City, Harris is originally from Montgomery, Alabama, one of the few cities in AL I am lucky to have visited, where Hank Williams is buried and where, 28 years before Harris was born, Rosa Parks refused to sit at the back of the bus. In his decade-long career as a country singer (outside of his day job as a sought-after carpenter), Harris has released three fine albums and the Why Don’t We Duet In The Road EP (which features Nikki Lane, Kristina Murray (whose recent album Southern Ambrosia has been playing on the WP show), Kelsey Waldon and Leigh Nash. Harris’s performance at the 2018 Americanfest in Nashville was well received by the critics, as was his choice to work with a slew of talented female country artist, when female artists seem to have been overlooked somewhat in the awards themselves. At the Sunday Morning Coming Down party that he hosted at the end of the festival (which I would love to have been able to attend), Harris shared the stage with Elizabeth Cook, The Watson Twins, Erin Rae and Kristina Murray. Fair play, although I find it odd that this should be the exception. Why wouldn’t a talented male artist want to share the stage with a bunch of talented female artists? He got to hang out with female artists he clearly respects and made himself look good into the bargain. Surely that’s a win-win?

Sometimes Dogs Bark at Nothing should certainly see JP Harris reaching a broader audience. This album provides the latest example of just how good today’s country music can be. First rate stuff, all we need now is some UK tour dates, please, hopefully at a slightly bigger venue.

 Tony Sexton

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Alejandro Escovedo

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The Crossing

Yep Roc Records

2018

“Bang Bang! There’s trouble in America” shouts Alejandro Escovedo on Fury and Fire, a blast of angry 21st century rock and roll protest, a stand-out lyric from The Crossing. A concept album built on the story of Salvo and Diego, two kids, Italian and Mexican respectively, who meet in Texas and decide to start a band, to make music just like the great records that started them on their separate crossings to the USA. As our two protagonists travel further into America, dreams are shattered by experiences as the harsh reality of America bleeds in. Fertile ground, indeed, for a song writer of Mexican-American heritage such as Escovedo, whom No Depression magazine have already declared artist of the decade. No pressure, then. I was weary when I approached the album for my first listen.

Alejandro Escovedo has had a diverse career since he first appeared as a founding member of the San Francisco punk band The Nuns, back in 1975. Prior to his recordings under his own name in a more alt.country style, Escovedo wielded his guitar for several notable bands, including Austin Cowpunk pioneers Rank and File, and The True Believers. Never one to be pinned down by musical borders, Escovedo is not easy to fence in.

Having already played the lead single, Sonica USA, featuring the guitar work of MC5’s Wayne Kramer, on the Whiskey Preachin radio show several months prior to the albums release, I had been expectantly waiting to hear the full work. Reviews I had read in the intervening months had been unanimous in putting the album on a pedestal, using words like “cinematic” and “masterwork”, describing Escovedo as one of the great songwriters of our time, in a genre of his own. I’d learnt that, alongside MC5’s Kramer, James Williamson of The Stooges also plays on one track, Teenage Luggage, that Joe Ely appears on two tracks, writing one of them, as does Richmond Fontaine’s Willy Vlautin. With such a build-up, I was worried that I wouldn’t like it, that maybe the artfulness and the concept would get in the way of the listen. There was no need to worry. On first listen, it was clear we were dealing with a very fine album indeed.

From a Whiskey Preachin perspective, there are a handful of tracks on The Crossing that we might choose to play in DJ set, more that would work well on the radio show. Outlaw for You is a tune that occupies a space in the musical Venn diagram where Whiskey Preachin and our friends Stay Sick could happily co-habit without squabbling over the stereo, a slice of classic garage rock Americana, like a cross between The Sir Douglas Quintet and ? and The Mysterians. Brilliant. The Aforementioned Sonica USA is all driving rock and roll, as is Fury and Fire, full of anger and political angst that many of us are feeling, no matter where we live. One of the strongest tracks comes towards the end of the album, the penultimate tune, MC Overlord, a mightily impressive No Wave post-punk workout.

The album’s slower tracks are where many of the guest singers appear and, if anything, give the album the structure necessary to navigate the story around the bigger, brasher rock and roll numbers. Joe Ely, who’s song Fingernails turned Joe Strummer onto Texas music, contributes the song Silver City, adding a touch of classic Texas songwriter to the sprawling kaleidoscope of musical influences and styles displayed on The Crossing. Ely returns to voice the spoken-word title track, The Crossing, closing out the album with a lament for broken dreams and broken lives, scorched along the Mexican border.

“The border crossed me, I didn’t cross it. If you really want to think of it, you’re the wetback, coming across the Atlantic”. Rio Navidad is another track where the story is exposited in spoken-work, this time written by Willy Vlautin (Richmond Fontaine, The Delines) and spoken by fellow Richmond Fontaine member, Freddy Trujillo, taking the reins to expound Diego’s story in Vlautin’s words. Another highlight of the album is the wonderful instrumental, Amor Puro, which opens with an almost Casio keyboard-style bossa groove before expanding into the sort of sleazy popcorn joint Calexico might bring to the party, if they had just come back form a desert surfing holiday.

The Crossing was recorded in Italy with Antonio Gramentieri and his band Don Antonio. Gramentieri is also credited with having written much of the album with Escovedo. The two travelled between Italy and Texas for their writing sessions, to soak up the atmosphere of both locations, home landscapes of the two characters in The Crossing. After all, the essence of south Tejas will always be Mexican. Gramentieri’s previous band, Sacri Cuori (Sacred Hearts), created music influenced and inspired by Italian film scores, having written music for film themselves. On The Crossing, it feels as if the soundtrack influence allowed for the diversity of styles to hang together as a single album. The very idea of a concept album could almost be imagined as a film made in music, so a group of musicians with experience in soundtracks makes perfect sense. There is something about The Crossing that made me think of the soundtrack created by Frank Black for a 1920s silent film called The Golem. For those of you with an interest in reading sleeve notes, Gramentieri also played guitar on Giant Sand’s 2015 album Heartbreak Pass.

The Crossing is a big album, seventeen tracks, covering lots of ground, myriad styles and influences; punk, rock and roll, Americana, ballads, spoken-word, surf and twang. It’s an ambitious work that shouldn’t really hang together as well as it does. It’s a melting pot of sounds and styles, just like the man whose name is on the sleeve. 

Tony Sexton

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Cliff Westfall

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 Baby You Win

Independent

2018

We are lucky today to be in a world where quality independent country music is the strongest it has been for decades, possibly ever. Whether you lean towards outlaw, cosmic, countrypolitan or singer-songwriter, honky tonk or bluegrass, there’s something out there for everyone. You can add Cliff Westfall’s album, Baby You Win, to that list. Packed with classic honky tonk sounds, with a production that manages to fell fresh and bygone at the same time, Baby You Win is reverential without falling into the trap of pastiche. Westfall’s lyrics are finely honed, at times wonderfully humorous, at others heart breaking, as only real a country songs can be. The press release helpfully prompts the busy reviewer that they should make some time for this album if they like Dwight Yoakam, Robbie Fulks or Rodney Crowell, and these are certainly good markers. Baby You Win does remind me of Fulks’s Georgia Hard album and Yoakam’s Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc., both albums I have gone back to time and time again, so I didn’t need much convincing.

Photo by Rosie Cohe

Westfall is a son of the south, hailing from Kentucky, the bluegrass state, although he calls New York home now. His band boasts so much experience, it’s no wonder they make such a fine sound together. The roll call of artists that members of the band have played with is impressive, if not daunting; Shooter Jennings, Norah Jones, Valerie June, Laura Cantrell, Ronnie Spector, Danger Mouse, Bruce Springsteen. Add to that producer Bryce Goggin, who has worked with The Ramones, Pavement and Antony and The Johnsons, and you have some serious talent in the studio.

Photo by Rosie Cohe

When deciding if an album should be reviewed here, the main considerations is whether it would fit in a Whiskey Preachin DJ set, or on the radio show. So, with that in mind, I was keen to find out if Westfall would deliver on our terms. The album gets off to a good start with a chirpy bopper, It Hurt Her to Hurt Me, followed by the twanging rock & roll of the title track, no surprise that Westfall cites Chuck Berry as a big influence. Till the Right One Comes Along drops to a shuffle, with a piano sound that brings to mind Patsy Cline, or Charlie Rich. So far, so good, all sounding very nice. I could play a lot of this on the radio, or when DJing in support of a band, but I’m not sure any of it would work in a full-on Whiskey Preachin DJ set. The next track, More and More, firms up my resolve that, while this is a solid, nice album, I won’t be needing to splash out on a vinyl copy.

Just as I think I’ve got this one pegged, the next track, Off the Wagon, kicks in. A lovely funky twang is soon under-pinned by a rolling train shuffle and an infectious guitar line that pricks my ears up immediately. As the lyrics unwind themselves, I can’t keep my smile under control, I know I’ve found a WP winner. Then the lead guitar does its thing and the steel rips it up and I’m gone.  No more evidence, your honour. A couple of tunes later, I’ll Play the Fool pulls a similar stunt on me, and I’m starting to hope that this album is being pressed up on vinyl, after all. Two sure fire WP tunes earns an album a place in the record box. I’m sold, even before a third winner, The End of the Line, kicks in to make this a three-spin album, making it all but essential.

Photo by Diego Britt

There are still two more songs to go, but, frankly, I’m happy for this baby to coast out, nice and easy, after all the hard work that has been presented so far. Well, I should know better by now, of course. Westfall closes out the twelve tracks of Baby You Win with a lovely drop of country funk, titled The Odds Were Good. That makes four solid Whiskey Preachin spins on a single album, and a body count that high raises a few eyebrows around here. But don’t get me wrong, just because there are four tracks that could happily grace any WP set, that’s not to say the rest of the album is a slouch. Far from it, this baby is packed with honky tonk goodness, from the first note to the last. Baby, we’re all winners here.

Tony Sexton

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Jason Eady

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I Travel On

Old Guitar Records

2018

 

A Jason Eady album is always easy on the ear and I Travel On is no different. You don’t get a huge amount of grit or rough edges from him, just well written tunes and cleverly constructed lyrics. In fact, his voice and songwriting style reminds me of early 90’s country star Clint Black, and that’s no bad thing.

If you’re new to Eady, 2014’s Daylight & Dark is especially worth checking out, a nice mix of honky tonk stormers and late-night laments, but this album takes a slight detour from his previous outings. Eady's earlier sound was fairly well set in the country-hony tonk arena, with a backbone of thoughtful acoustic tunes. ‘I Travel On’ has a more bluegrass feel to it, with a few swampy, bluesy tracks thrown in to mix it up. In fact, a couple of the songs have a Tony Joe White groove about them. Now or Never and That’s Alright especially. The more ‘present’ sound of the band also makes this feel different. In the past, Eady has sometimes felt like a solo artist working with backing musicians who are almost incidental, as if the songs were more important than the delivery. Here it sounds like a true ‘band’ effort, and adding a couple of bluegrass musicians, Grammy-nominated Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley, has also made a big impact.

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The fact that the songs were captured live in one take shows the cohesiveness and skill of all concerned. The opener, Lost My Mind in Carolina, sets its stall out pretty quickly, with a melange of bluegrassy licks before Eady’s distinctive vocals kick in. It’s a lively, driving tune that leads into the swampy grind of Now or Never, with its unusual, picked-out, twangy refrain. 

Eady’s wife, Courtney Patton - a brilliant songwriter and singer in her own right - joins in on backing vocals on a couple of tunes, while the band proves its credentials with some lovely licks and solos to fill out the sound. Everything flows nicely, with ballads leading into country shuffles and bluesy grooves. Below the Waterline stands out a little from the rest, with its feel of a more traditional folk song, its pace and atmosphere acting as a nice palate cleanser. Your sensibilities now soothed, you’re headed straight into the frenetic Pretty when I die, which has the energy and thrust of a full-throttle Turnpike Troubadours track.

Jason Eady delivers with a conviction and authority that has you believing that his tales are based on personal experiences. A great example of this is She had to Run, which has the feel of a more countrified Jason Isbell ballad. Eady is one of those guys who seems to just get better and better, and this album gets better each time you hear it. I Travel On offers a slightly different flavour to Eady's usual output, but one that really tickles the taste buds, for sure. Get it on the menu at your local honky tonk today.

Pat Comer

D.T. Buffkin

Saturday Night, Sunday Morning

Shotgun House Records

2018

I love music that keeps me coming back, that makes me want to understand where it’s coming from, to see the recipe between my ears. Where are these guys coming from? What have they been getting up to? What made them concoct a sound like this? I remember the first time I put the needle on a Doug Sahm record, how I was transported to the Texas boarderlands, by way of Haight Ashbury. Sahm’s band, The Sir Douglas Qunitet, mixed the influences they heard around them in San Antonio, Texas, blending the local honky tonk and Chicano conjunto with rhythm and blues, rolling it all up and setting light to it. I took a deep breath, the sound was intoxicating.

D.T. Buffkin

DT Buffkin has a lot in common with Doug Sahm, including his home town, some of his fellow musicians, and his proclivity for melting cultural influences together in a way that would seem to be a hallmark of San Antone music. Augie Meyers, original founding member of The Sir Douglas Quintet, plays organ on the song Houston St. on Buffkin’s album, a gentle, rolling rumba that might conjure up thoughts of old Havana, possibly even Parisian boulevards, as much as it does south Texas. You can see Meyers playing organ with Buffkin on his righteous cover of the Sir Douglas Quintet hit She’s About a Mover, backed by Garrett T Capps on drums and Flaco Jimenez on accordion. Buffkin is label mates with Capps, both calling Shotgun House Records home. In fact, if you are lucky enough to own the excellent 7” version of Capps’s Born in San Antone, you will already have a DT Buffkin track on the other side.

Saturday Night, Sunday Morning is a slow-burner of an album. Allow yourself to wallow in these songs and you will soon find that they have crept inside your consciousness. It’s an album for the elegantly disheveled, for those who know what it is to have lost love, for the no-account boozers and the can’t-help-but losers. It’s an album for poets and dropouts, for smoky late nights and rainy-day mornings, for the coming down that probably wasn’t worth the going up, for those of us resigned to reaching for the bottle after the horse has bolted. If you want touchstones, you can take your pick, but, suffice it to say, not one of these artist sounds like DT Buffkin. They are all reference points I stumbled upon while trying to place Buffkin’s music: early Willie Nelson, The Shirells, Billie Holiday, Nashville Skyline-era Dylan, Howe Gelb, even Amy Winehouse, if she had been born male and in Texas. I guess you could argue that Charlie Crockett is a fair comparison from today, but, to these ears, Buffkin is making music that will weather the vagaries of time far better. This album is already timeless, where as Crockett’s latest sounds like it has been produces for today’s market. I know which album I’m more likely to return to in ten years.

Cover of D.T. Buffkins split 7", which he shared with Garrett T Capps.

Some reviews naturally take longer to write than others. Maybe this is down to struggling to find an in, a hook to hang it all on, the right words. Perhaps, you think, one more listen will help you do justice to the artist whose work you are toying with, one more spin to see what comes to mind this time. Saturday Night, Sunday Morning is a case in point. The subtlety of the playing, the world-weary lyrics, the soulful melancholy of the vocal delivery, the aching resignation at the core of every song, combine to produce an ethereal haze around the music that makes it difficult to recall when the album ends, in a way that bothers you until you play it again. There is much beauty here, and it is through the acceptance of life’s little tragedies that it is revealed.

Tony Sexton

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Cordovas

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That Santa Fe Channel

ATO Records

2018

Looks can be deceptive. Cordovas have the rough and ready look of a bunch of prospectors from the California gold rush, but while they rock that 49er chic, there's a real sophistication to their classy take on the Americana sound. Bandleader Joe Firstman's previous experience, as musical director on NBC's late-night show Last Call with Carson Daly, has certainly stood him in good stead. Performing nightly alongside first-rate musicians, such as Thundercat and Kamasi Washington, can only create the highest of standards, and Firstman has corralled a crack troupe of musicians, capable of delivering a tune as slick and polished as any pop act, but never sounding plastic.

This is real, heartfelt roots music, never overblown but, despite its confidence, often displaying a certain fragility. Expertly captured by producer Kenneth Pattengale. opening track This Town's A Drag is a case in point. Many touring bands have written about killing time while stuck in Anytown, USA, but few manage to convey the feelings of yearning and resignation as eloquently as Cordovas. It's also one hell of an earworm. Check out the footage of them performing the track live at Toe Rag studios, when they were last in London. Selfish Loner is a tale of a charming lowlife sleaze accompanied with quicksilver slick pedal steel and angelic three-part vocal harmonies. In fact, the vocal harmonies really are key to the success of this album. Firstman insisted that all vocal parts be recorded at the same time, until the perfect take was achieved, and it pays off, embellishing every track, from the funky roots-rock of Talk to Me to the soulful Santa Fe, with a quality few acts can manage.

Of course, there are influences here, too, with a nod to the Allmans on occasion, and I had to check that I'm The One That Needs You Tonight wasn't an obscure Dylan composition I was yet to discover. The album is also infused with a world-weary tenderness, recalling Gram Parsons solo recordings, but it's really The Band and Little Feat that are the most obvious comparisons, not only in the songwriting but also the sheer quality of musicianship.

Although Cordovas eponymous debut album was released in the UK in the last couple of years, it was actually recorded six years ago, and a couple of its strongest compositions make a reappearance on That Santa Fe Channel. Standing on the Porch originally had more of a stomping beat, but here it has a skip in its step that allows it to swing and shay in a more danceable way, while Step Back Red, previously heavily indebted to The Band and still containing Robbie Robertson's DNA, has been embellished with playful jazzy elements after years of jamming on the road. Still love that original version though.

Michael Hosie

 

If you get a kick form seeing talented, tried and true musicians performing first class, original material with a passion and verve that ignites an enthusiastic sympathy in the audience; if you like songs to be crafted and honed, to be worth the time it takes to write them, not just to listen; and if you like your country music filtered through the musical strata of the decades, lightly wearing influences from old time mountain harmonies to classic California country-rock; if you like the sound of a band that might make you think of Little Feat, The Band, Steely Dan, even, at times, White Denim, then you need to check out Cordovas.

Tony Sexton

Sarah Shook & The Disarmers

Years

Bloodshot Records

2018

 

A few years ago, I was trawling YouTube for some country music and came across a track called Dwight Yoakam. The video was a black and white, homemade-looking affair of a dishevelled, possibly drunk, probably hungover girl who belted out the first line of the song in a throaty, yodely draw “I’m drinking water tonight cos I drank all the whisky this morning…”. I was hooked. Now, a few years later, Sarah Shook & the Disarmers have released their second long-player, Years.

Years treads a similar path to that first album, Sidelong, which was a raucous affair of fuck-ups, one-night stands who sound like Dwight Yoakam, and redemption through rye whisky. This latest effort, though, has a slightly less desperate air about it. It’s still a breaking-up-moving-on-unlucky-in-love-get-me-a-drink-quick affair, but Sarah seems more in control of her demons. The songs are more rounded and less edgy than before; with the writing and lyrical wordplay undeniably living in the world of country, they have that quality of sounding familiar the first time you hear them. The band deliver a fuller sound too, with the not-too-overdone solos giving the tunes a nicely balanced feel. The Disarmers sound like they’ve travelled thousands of highway miles together.
 

A rockabilly beat flavours a couple of the tracks, especially ‘Damned if I do…’, and there are a couple of down-beat, tears-in-your-beer tunes thrown in for good measure - ‘Parting words’ and ’Heartache in Hell’ - but generally this album whips along. Sarah’s smoky, hillbilly drawl is truly distinct and adds a level of authenticity to her tales of all-night drinking and all-day heartache, differentiating her from the retro-hued tones of Margo Price or Nikki Lane. You tend to believe the tales she’s telling, but, o be honest, it sounds like she doesn’t really care if you believe her or no - no apologies are offered or accepted.
 

The noir-esque ‘The bottle never lets me down’ sets this unapologetic tone, preferring the company of the always reliable bottle to her obviously not very reliable, soon to be ex. How very country. The final track, ’Years’, is the stand-out for me, a plaintive tale, regretting how the good times were over before the protagonists even realised.

If you like your country full of hungover heartache, with regrets thrown out like yesterday’s empties, then this may be the album for you. I suggest you check out Sarah Shook’s first album, ‘Sidelong’, as well. In my opinion, it grabs you that little bit harder than its slightly more polished, younger sibling. If ‘Sidelong’ was drinking straight from the bottle, ‘Years’ has opted for the slightly more refined, but equally as effective shot glass. Cheers.

Pat Comer

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Jesse Daniel

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Jesse Daniel

Self-Released

2018

 

Now we’re talkin’! Another great self-released country album, the sort of record that takes you by surprise, barrelling around a dangerous curve at 100 mph. There’s so much to like on Jesse Daniel’s eponymous debut; the songs are strong, the production has just the right amount of grit and the vibe’s up-beat, like a Saturday night in a California roadhouse, with lashings of electric twang, witty lyrics and a real good thump to the drums. With titles like Hell Bent and Comin’ Down Again, it’s not difficult to imagine what this album has in store. That said, few new artists can tell it as straight and true as Jesse Daniel does on Soft Spot (for the Hard Stuff), a confessional of sorts. Daniel’s story of substance abuse is no mere lyrical conjuring of romantic fantasy, rather a first-hand expression of a life he has thankfully managed to escape.

Starting out as a drummer for several punk bands around his home in Ben Lomand, California (north of Santa Cruz), Daniel found himself on the road and increasingly out of his head on various substances, graduating to the queen of the main line. Life followed a pick-n-mix of rehab, jail and homelessness. Daniel’s story of how he found his path to becoming a country musician is almost prophetic. Passing by a thrift shop on his way back to a motel room for a fix, he saw a group of homeless watching a TV in the window. Stopping to see what they were watching, he heard one of the men exclaim “hey, they’re pretty good”, before realising that one of the musicians on screen was his own father. Jesse and the other men went off to fix up in another motel room, where there was a TV set in the corner playing Buck Owens singing Act Naturally. Jesse Daniel hadn’t exactly seen the light, but the seeds of his redemption had been sewn.

A few years later, while in rehab in Oakland, Jesse heard the strum and twang of someone playing a Hank Williams tune in the next room. Wandering in to investigate, he sat to listen, later making his mind up to kick his habit, lay down the needle in favour of the guitar. Daniel hdd found his path at last, eventually managing to get on his feet, save $50 to buy a battered old Fender and start writing songs.

Soft Spot (for the Hard Stuff) doesn’t pull any punches in the story it tells, as the protagonist packs his life into a glass pipe and burns it down to the ground, all to a solid outlaw groove that adds the song extra credence. It’s a sure-fire Whiskey Preachin winner, as is SR-22 Blues, an up-tempo romp of a tale of a guy who has lost his driving licence for DUI and now walks twenty miles to his SR-22, the light aircraft that has replaced his car! The Banker is another highlight on this gem of an album, like a modern-day remake of Chuck Berry’s You Never Can Tell, spinning the yarn of as banker who has been run over, resulting in thousands of dollars blowing down the street from his busted briefcase. If only…

Jessie Daniel has released a record that I expect will be at the front of the Whiskey Preachin record box for years to come. My LP copy can’t turn up soon enough.

 

Tony Sexton