A line in Bob Dylan’s “It’s Alright Ma, I’m Only Bleeding” goes, “If my thought dreams could be seen, they’d probably put my head in a guillotine.” Lyrics to Clutter Family songs like “I Love You, Jodie Foster” make one fear a similar fate for that band’s coguitarists/singers/writers Jim Earl and Chris Hobbs. Musically much [...]
Gustav Lundgren is boldly going where few other Gypsy jazz guitarists dare: the daunting and little-known world of Django Reinhardt’s later bebop music. Swede Lundgren is prolific in both the worlds of standard jazz guitar and Gypsy jazz, with seven previous releases to his name plus numerous others as a sideman. He has proved himself [...]
This North Carolina-based band makes its own rules. Call their music bluegrass or newgrass, Southern rock, hippie country, or anything else, and it’s still refreshingly original music from a quintet whose members must have kept their ears and minds open to a variety of musical sounds. “Sweet Water” starts out like a James Gang outtake [...]
Norris is an unabashed acolyte of Duane Allman. “Your My Girl” (sic) is a soul ballad that has the late guitarist’s stamp all over it. “It’s Alright,” an uptempo boogie, and “Hard Luck Case,” a slice of swamp jazz/rock thickened by Mike Lynch’s B-3, would both have fit on Eat A Peach. But Norris is [...]
Texas blues singer Greenleaf has gathered a host of noteworthy guest guitarists to help highlight her considerable virtues and versatility as a writer and singer. Three of the tunes here – “The Beautiful Hat,” “You Don’t Feel That Way,” and “’Cause I’m A Soldier” – show she’s got an artful hand at producing too. Like [...]
There’s a solid old-school thump to Amy Black’s modern, acoustic-guitarbased blues. Sometimes (as on “Stay”), she leavens her music with a rockabilly flavor with the help of fiddler Dan Kellar, who gets some of his best moments on the title cut and the dark “Ain’t No Grave (Gonna Hold My Body Down).” Adding to the [...]
Harmonica whiz Dermody is the honcho on this tribute to the real roots of modern blues and popular music, and he employs a host of fine guitarists to help. Dermody is smart enough to make sure things work organically; no one crowds anyone else. The arrangements and instrumentation are sparse, and though the overall tone [...]
Whatever else happens to The Clutters, they will never be invited to Sarah Palin’s house for Thanksgiving dinner – the name of their song about her can’t even be printed. But they are clever satirists and seriously talented folk/rock musicians who work from way beyond the edge. Their music is obviously Beatles- (“JonBenet,” “Wear This [...]
Good musicians just might outnumber good songwriters, but don’t tell Arty Hill. This album of 11 originals out of 12 cuts sports snappy country swing and blues numbers like the energetic “Mae Dawn” that prove that not only do they write ’em like they used to but folks like Hill do a darn good job [...]
Australian Claude Hay is an intensely spirited one-man band. He works himself into such a frenzy performing his multi-layered songs (“How Can You Live Without Yourself”) they become improvisation-like outpourings of a man possessed. Whatever his inspiration, Hay has a knack for writing unique songs. A superf luous cover of Queen’s “We Will Rock You” [...]
