Month: December 2010

On one of this album’s best cuts, “Gas Can Story,” Mac Arnold tells of how his then 10-year-old brother, William, so desperately wanted a guitar he made one from a gasoline can with “strings from the windows” and frets fashioned from coat hangers. When his brother moved on and (we hope!) up to a real guitar, five-year-old Mac picked up the homemade instrument and began teaching himself to play. Showing a determination at least equal, Mac – a lefty – flipped the guitar over and learned to play it upside down. No wonder this album is called Backbone & Gristle!

Grown-up Mac follows the story with a song played on a similar gas-can guitar made a few years after the first. The story is touching, the guitar surprisingly tuneful, and the satisfying results of Arnold’s dedication are here to be heard.

The album includes live and studio versions of Arnold’s message to youth, “I Can Do Anything.” It’s hard to argue the claim when it comes from someone who has gone from woodshedding on a gas can to playing in a high school band with James Brown to playing bass with Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker to working as an associate producer on “Soul Train” and news correspondent for the Ford presidential campaign. A man with a genuine connection to some of American music’s immortals, Mac Arnold is also worth paying particular attention to when he steps out front.

---

This article originally appeared in VG’s Aug. ’08 issue.  All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine.  Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

---

Lissa Schneckenburger plays “progressive” New England/Celtic music that combines equal parts traditional harmonic textures with a modern acoustic sensibility. Her voice has a pristine directness that perfectly suits these traditional tunes.

Song is Schneckenburger’s third release, and the first of two that focuses on material from the New England region. Some of the tunes date to the 18th century, and much of the material was gleaned from the work of ethnomusicologists such as Phillips Barry. And even if the tunes are historically correct, they aren’t dry or academic – every selection is vibrant and contemporary.

Along with her regular band, Schneckenburger enlisted the aide of accordion players Sharon Shannon and Jeremiah McLane and cellists Rashad Eggleston and Natalie Haas. Eggleston’s signature pulsing chop propels the 19th-century song “The Old Beggar Man” into the 21st century. Sharon Shannon’s rhythmically precise accordion parts on “Lumberman in Town/Go Ken Go” provide Schneckenburger with a perfect foil for her immaculate vocals.

In the early days of the folk boom, many performers gave lip service to “preserving folk heritage” while making essentially pop music. On Song, Schneckenburger offers renditions with as much passion and life as any contemporary composition.

---

This article originally appeared in VG’s Jul. ’08 issue.  All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine.  Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

---

The title references the “impact” of the guitar effects pedals made by Robert Keeley in making the album. That’s all fine and good, but more important is the fine music, propelled by the fine guitar playing of Paul Priest.

A stylistic mixed bag, highlights include the horn-driven pop of “Feelin’ the Love” with its “old-time-hit” feel where clean rhythm guitar stands out. Likewise the wonderful soul of “People Saving People.” There’s plenty of foot-stomping rock and roll, too. “So Deep” starts with harmonized leads that take you back to the ’70s. The boogie of “1969” fits the title perfectly, with feel and tone reminiscent of a time when guitar sound was integral to a rock song. The solo – heavy on the wah – is a perfect reflection of the era.

There are nice experimental sounds, too. Guitars dive in and out of “B.A.R. (Baghdad Airport Road)” to perfectly illustrate the title. And “The Eternal Caress of Madame Music” is over 13 minutes of music that lets Priest stretch out. By the way, if you are a gear freak, there is a breakdown in the liner notes of everything used on each cut. –

---

This article originally appeared in VG’s Jul. ’08 issue.  All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine.  Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

---

On this truly phenomenal record, Granafei rolls through 10 cuts, most familiar, with just his voice, a nylon-string guitar, and a chromatic harmonica.

There is no over-dubbing on this record, and Granafei’s performance is truly incredible. On the opener “Out of Nowhere,” his guitar work is harmonically sophisticated  and swings hard, with wonderful walking bass moving the song along as his harmonica provides the solo. Cuts range from Jobim (“Wave” and “Meditation”) to Milt Jackson (“Bag’s Groove”), the latter is a perfect example of why this works well beyond any “gimmick” level. The bluesy swing is driven by a guitarist who knows his instrument inside and out.

On “Wave,” Granafei builds excitement with the six-string in a way few would think possible in this kind of music. He proves to be a master of the harmonica, too, bringing to mind the likes of Toots Thielemans. The playing is jazzy and alive.

While it would be easy to dismiss this record as some sort of novelty, doing so will have you missing out on great music. 

---

This article originally appeared in VG’s Aug. ’08 issue.  All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine.  Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

---

Fearing negative comparison, some singer/songwriters shy away from covering other writer’s material. Some, boring people by the dozens in coffeehouses across the country, feel it’s everyone else who comes up short. Mark Erelli falls into neither category. He’s musician (acoustic, electric, and resonator guitars, harmonica) and singer enough to handle someone else’s best, and writer enough to come up with the excellent tunes that make up this, his sixth and possibly best album.

Erelli, a folk singer with an alt-country/rocker’s sensibility, writes savvy, interesting, often touching songs that are candid without being whiny, getting his feelings across in a way that is imminently relatable. He’s equally effective addressing larger issues and non-personal themes.

“Volunteers” (co-written with Peter Nelson), a song about the conflict in Iraq, is unmistakably supportive of the men and women fighting there and perceptively realistic about the war itself.

Similar to John Hiatt in attitude if not style, the 33-year-old Erelli makes grown-up music with the verve and enthusiasm of an 18-year-old. The catchy, inspired hook of “Five Beer Moon” and the measured crescendo waltz of “Not Alone” will remind even the pickiest listeners that music can be smart and relevant and moving without sacrificing rhythm and joy. By the time Erelli gets to the simple darkly magnificent title song it’s been long confirmed that Delivered and Mark Erelli have something to say and a unique, poetic, compelling way of saying it.

---

This article originally appeared in VG’s Nov. ’08 issue.  All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine.  Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

---

JJ Grey continues a long line of singer/songwriters who grew up in the South and soaked up everything that makes music from that region so unique. On his second effort for Alligator, Grey proves adept at soul, R&B, rock, country, and gospel, interchanging parts of each.

The title cut is a punchy soul tune with a guitar figure that revolves around the whole song. The skilled songwriter, singer, and guitarist offers proof he knows his way around a studio, too, with cuts like “The Devil You Know” and its too-hot-in-the-right-way vocal. A bit of distortion sounds perfect and sums up a lot of parts on the album, sonically and otherwise. “On Fire” is funk a la Sly Stone, with big bass and slinky guitar. Grey’s vocal leads into a sparse, soulful guitar solo full of sweet bends. “Ybor City” has a funky guitar figure that sets up the song the way John Lee Hooker’s guitar figures used to set up his songs before it morphs into jazz with nice stop-time punches. Another nice part of this record is the addition of a string section on several of the songs. Put with the slow, bluesy funk and Grey’s falsetto vocal, the strings are like the topping on a good bowl of ice cream.

Grey’s singing has always been soulful and full of life. Here, his writing and playing are growing in the same way.

---

This article originally appeared in VG’s Dec. ’08 issue.  All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine.  Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

---

Darrell Scott’s latest CD highlights his performing prowess rather than his songwriting chops – all 12 cuts are covers.

This isn’t the first album on which Scott has displayed his interpretive abilities, but here he tackles a wider range of material. Song choices include Gordon Lightfoot’s “All The Lovely Ladies,” Guy Clark’s “That Old Time Feeling,” and Kris Kistofferson’s “Jesus Was a Capricorn.” Others are musically further afield, such as Pat Metheny’s “James,” Leonard Cohen’s “Joan of Arc,” and Paul Simon’s “American Tune.”

Regardless of the source, by the second bar, every song sounds like a Darrell Scott tune. He combines old-timey textures with modern tin-pan alley sensibilities in a unique way, luxuriating in the harmonies and changes of each song. Scott frames Adam Mitchell’s “Out Among the Stars” with a full a capella choir, then performs his most striking musical transformation with “Joan of Arc.” Mary Gauther sings the lead with a world-weary timbre while Scott delivers the answering “fire” part of their duet with an intensity that matches Cohen’s rendition from Jennifer Warnes’ Famous Blue Raincoat album.

Early in his career Scott worked as an A-list sideman, and the players list here reads like a winners roll from a bluegrass or roots-music convention. Acoustic bass legend Danny Thompson is joined by Stuart Duncan and Casey Driessen on fiddle, David Grier on guitar, Dirk Powell on accordion and banjo, and Alison Krauss, John Cowan, Mary Gauthier, Suzi Ragsdale, and Kathy Chiavola on accompanying vocals. Scott plays guitar, mandola, dobro, piano, banjo, and lead vocals.

To understand how a songwriter’s mind works, you must listen to how they perform covers. On Modern Hymns, Darrell Scott delivers 12 striking performances that illuminate his unique style.

---

This article originally appeared in VG’s Nov. ’08 issue.  All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine.  Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

---