Ron Noyes : Mosaic
John Davey gets confused by the Noyes..

Sounding very like David Gray (a Good Thing in my book) , Ron Noyes sings
with a warmth and sincerity that invests his songs with depth and meaning.
This is just as well because in cold print his lyrics make no sense to me at
all. Try this, from "Breakdown" :

Im gonna breakdown the hills today mama
gonna feel the breeze myself
gonna take away all the curtains
and pull clockwork from the shelf
- or this, from "Up on Silence" :
So bring me a hammer or bring me the key
either way now it dont matter much to me
ah this lock, this deadbolt bridge
they dropped down my earth and they made me a ledge

It kinda makes more sense sung , and I guess overall you get an impression
of the lovesick blues, and a world weariness so overwhelming that it's a bit
difficult to stick with him for the whole ride. The introspection is
lightened by the music which is fine throughout , with a range of
instrumentation that gives colour to the prevailing mood. The soft, bluesy
organ is especially welcome as is the upright bass on a handful of tracks. I
think that in performance some of these arrangements would escape the
constraints of the production sound and really come alive but on record
they too easily become aural wallpaper. I've got another gripe about the
production: so much of it is really professional with a smooth warm sound,
but the drums, almost throughout, sound like they come from a different
album - a sort of hollow sound - and the same problem seems to affect some
of the guitar parts.
Still, as late night, downbeat music it fits the bill and if I hadn't read
the lyric sheet I might have liked it more.It was recorded in 2002 (though
there's no clue as to where) so perhaps a new Ron Noyes record is due soon,
and I'd be interested enough to want to hear it.

John Davey

http://www.ronnoyesband.com/

Chris Jagger : Channel Fever
David Blue takes a roll on the rolling cajun seas ..

For those of you that don't know, Chris Jagger is Mick's younger brother. But, to be quite honest, there's not a lot that they have in common musically. Channel Fever is a blend of Cajun/Zydeco, Blues, Rock & Roll and Country as Jagger hedges his bets with this series of self or co-written tracks. Having said that Chris and Mick don't have much in common there are a couple of songs in the good time title track (up to the Cajun accordion at the chorus) and Baby Is Blue that do have Rolling Stones sounds to them. The latter certainly is in the Waiting For A Friend mould.

Law Against It is a slowish catchy boogie on which Jagger gives us a taste of his drawl but the following, atmospheric Still Waters will have few fans. He's In A Meeting is straight up old time country whereas Funky Man is the first blues track and delivers some snappy guitar and organ as well as the first outing for the horn section. The first of my favourite tracks is Monique, which is sung in French and straight out of the Louisiana bayou. This is Cajun music played to the highest standard.

The Arms Of Kari-Ann is a straightforward, medium paced country-rock effort and the tempo is raised again on the rock and roll style, Crazy. We get full-on country, fiddles and all on the foot-tapping Rodeo before moving on to the aforementioned acoustic Baby Is Blue. Back to the favourite songs with Libido Blues and Blanchishears, the former being standard rhythm & blues but with just that little something extra and the latter is just another good time, bluegrass influenced track.

The best vocal on the album is saved for the final song, C.J.'s Blues. This shows off his voice majestically and may show him the future path. He is very good at the Cajun and Country offerings but surely he must devote more space to gritty blues in the future.

David Blue

this review also available at netrhythms.com

http://chrisjaggeronline.com contains online wma files

Jan Smith : Tin Heart
James McSweeney follows the girl with the tin heart and is smitten..

A gem of a debut that on first listen falls in Gillian Welch territory with a little Natalie Merchant and Tracy Chapman thrown in. And Smith's good melodic sense keeps her to paths familiar but previously untrod. The biggest difference however, is those folks didn't have as many great songs on their last albums. From the winsome "Your Moma Don't Care" to the elegiac title cut, there's a wealth of good songwriting, the kind of in-the-moment storytelling that can make a CD a trusted friend. Both the band and musical guests are superb. But all those guitar fills and solos ain't hardly necessary. On the other hand, flat pick fans often can't get enough so, enjoy.
Smith's voice is softer, less angular than Welch's and the subtle way she uses it to stretch your attention brings Margo Timmins and the Cowboy Junkies to mind. These tunes, like life, seem to unfold on their own rather than as the result of anyone's volition. They insinuate themselves into your consciousness the way clouds do. So yes, you can hear the influences; and there's nothing shockingly different going down here. But in a world of CDs with only one or two strong cuts this release stands out because nearly everything on it won't let go. Smith is truly her own singer/songwriter and that's the best compliment there is. Anybody comes out the gate this fast gets the 'rare & recommended" rating.

James McSweeney

http://www.jansmithband.com

The Mercy Brothers : Strange Adventure
John Davey takes a walk on the Whitfield side..

Here's a bit of a treat. The Mercy Brothers are fronted by Barrence
Whitfield on vocals and Michael Dinallo on guitars and songwriting, and they
bring us an album of songs that are essentially blues - they cover "Another
Man Done Gone" and Blind Willie McTell's "Broke Down Engine" - but coloured
with a lot of country and soul. Three songs in, I was thinking : so far, so
o.k. but then that sense of everybody trying a bit too hard evaporated and
things just got better and better. There's a swing to these blues, and a
grace and ease in Whitfield's vocals that's just lovely - plenty of soul.
too and the odd well-judged exuberant yelp. As for the band, they're just
great: the rhythm section drive along powerfully, Tim Kelly's dobro playing
provides a lot of the interest that a slide guitar might in another blues
band and the guitars on the top of everything seem endlessly inventive,
subtle and...right, as if there's not a note out of place. And best of all
they save the best two tracks for last. "Misery Train" (not a misprint)
builds and builds till you want it to go on all night, and "Mister Johnson"
is just a humdinger, a complex, rolling, wistful blues that might be the
best new song I've heard this year. It put a great big smile on my face and
sent me straight back to Track 1.

John Davey

Frogholler : Railings
David Blue encounrters some thoughtful hollering...

Frogholler's fourth album opens in a low-key, downbeat fashion with the laconic, melancholy Unlock The Door. This is a strange one to begin with but it sets the mood for the rest of the album and should start to win you over before the end.

The favourite tracks, such as Virginia, The Sweetest Sound and Idiots just keep on coming. Virginia, with its hint of bluegrass and surprising upbeat tempo (considering its about suicide) will creep into your subconscious and you will find yourself, just like me, whistling it when you least suspect it. The Sweetest Sound has an eerie beginning but fades into a powerful vocal with blues/gospel influences reminiscent of Mark Knopfler & The Notting Hillbillies and Idiots, which should have been on their critically acclaimed album of the same name from 2001, has Crash Test Dummies sounds with electric guitars making their first appearance and is laid back in the extreme.

Unfortunately, the standard is too difficult to maintain and the album suffers a little with the slightly strange What Went Down and the effortless but lacklustre Suit & Tie. Good times are back with Glory, which returns to electric guitars, is strangely familiar and will have you singing along at the chorus. About Time and Mine are straightforward songs with the former exuding sunshine and country drives and the latter nearly overwhelmed by the regimented drumbeat.

God's Children is, quite literally, electric but still manages to continue the laid-back laconic feel of the album and is followed by Second Hand Smoke, which is possibly the most laid-back song on offer. The set finishes with Hole In The Ground, which is a fitting end to a very good album. It builds and grows on you and the vocalist even goes up the range. If you like your music to be melodic and thought provoking then Frogholler may just be the band for you.

David Blue
this review also available at netrhythms.com

http://www.frogholler.com

Bill Wence : California Callin'
Tony Burger gets carried away and heads west...almost..

Bill Wence is a keyboard player originally from California but now a Tennessee resident. Over the years he has probably appeared on hundreds of recordings and played in numerous road-bands, most notably those of Tom T Hall and Bobby Bare.

'California Callin' is Bill's first recording under his own name, he has written all the songs himself and shares production with the wonderfully named Joe Funderburk. The names of the most of the musicians he has called upon mean very little to me but they are, without exception, a talented bunch. The album is awash with great pedal steel and if, like me, you're a sucker for a Hammond there is some great organ bubbling away in the background on a couple of tracks. Bill has also called upon four different female backing singers, most notably Kimmie Rhodes who appears on two tracks.

So, we have a musician with a good CV and years of experience, a band with great chops and a bevy of backing singers - should be a recipe for a great album. Unfortunately it is the songs that let it down - not that they're bad, they're just in need of a bit of spark. Just when you think Bill and the band are going to go off into something a bit dangerous and unusual musically, they reach for the obvious chord change and are straight back into predictable, everyday territory. Lyrically there are no surprises either; it's pretty standard stuff.

For me, the track that stands out from the others is "Break Away", one of the tracks on which Bill shares the vocals with Jonell Mosser. Her name is not familiar to me but she has a fine voice that lifts this song above the rest.

Without a doubt Bill Wence has paid his dues and has probably waited years for the opportunity to record and produce his own songs. Even if it's not going to set the world on fire, 'California Callin' is something that he can regard as a job well done. It's a pleasant enough album to listen to, but I don't really hear anything here that is going to lift Bill from the ranks of 'sidemen' to the centre of the stage.

Tony Burger

http://www.billwencepromotions.com/billsmusic.html

Drive By Truckers: Decoration Day
Rob Ellen hops on board...

Athens Georgia should check the water, what is it that produces rockin
country quartets that have the ability to create anthems for an age, where
REM may have been kidnapped and captured by the coffee table set, the Drive
By Truckers give off a "don't even think about it" air to any would-be
hi-jacker. This band are full of guns blazing twang and crunch, harmony,
southern soulful pride and spirit, rot gut bourbon a bible and those blazing
guns.....

I first heard the Drive By Truckers, on Andy Kershaw's radio 3 prog doing
their powerful take on Alabama thinking, in The Three Alabama Icons from
Southern Rock Opera. A politically charged rant setting the record straight
about Governor George Wallace, Ronnie Van Zants and Neil Young....

The BBT track was sandwiched between Young's Alabam (which had caused the
fuss) and Ronnie's bands Sweet Home Alabama (which was Skynard very public
repost) Neil Young's incidentally was asked by Zants family to take a cord
at his funeral, the two were good friends in life and respected each other
greatly......

It was one of those moments when only the music you are hearing was of any
import, I was driving and immediately pulled over to be able to listen to
every succinct word more clearly, it was like a public service broadcast,
answering a raging imbalance and telling you at last, why you could be into
both of these songs and still feel sane, or in DBT way of thinking grow up
in the south and keep right minded.....

So with some glee I opened a package from their European Promoters with the
new album Decoration Day in it, asking me for my opinion, which I am
delighted to impart to y'all now....

As dark and broody as Mike Cooleys voice but also as consciously deep and
cavernous too, its as colourful, enlightening and entertaining as its
wonderful cover art and booklet. The imagery has two cartoon crows cawing
over a flower covered grave with shafts of light illuminating the scene
against a dark boiling sky, like gods fingers, in a forgotten place, that's
how the wisdom is offered in this marvellous piece of work, you'll encounter
blood boiling Southern Rock, heart tearing Blues and gut strangling Country,
you have your neck hair ripped out by scything steel guitar, your foot moved
to stomping by twin lead assault and your brows bent to frowning by the
uncompromising truth you can only experience when you find your self staring
into the gaunt eyes of a southern preacher telling you to , ""repent sinner
REPENT""!!!!. Mike gives you the impression he has stared in those cavernous
eyes and then brought his full bearing and experience to bear on that scull
shaped form and cast the very devil from that who would have him repent,
that's how this album will give up its intoxicating potion. Ever minute is
way beyond just mere entertainment.....

Anyone interested in the music development of The South need to get a Drive
By Truckers CD to still be able to comment with any commitment regarding the
21st century and the music of the south.....

Rob Ellen

 

www.drivebytruckers.com/

David Childers and the Modern Don Juans : : Room #23
Jon Davy waltzes around Bob Childers' bar-room philosophy

I'm not quite sure where David Childers' musical heart is at. The bulk of
this album is bar-room country, robust and mature like his singing voice.
What you hear first time round is pretty much what you get and there aren't
many subtleties to be teased out in repeated listenings, just good solid
songs performed well. However, maybe half the album veers off in other
directions, with his singing working well in every new context. There's rock
songs with an early 70's feel to them (I was reminded of Free, Family and
Steppenwolf in turn) and then slower numbers with simpler arrangements,
sometimes just the man and his guitar. For me, they're probably the
highlights of the album, but Room #23 is a broad church and there's
something here for most folk. I'm sure, too, that these songs would come
over really well at a gig, and you'd be needing your dancing shoes; worth
checking out at Celtic Connections if you can get there.

John Davy

www.davidchilders.com

Thomas Fraser : You and My Old Guitar
Rob Ellen explores the work of the Shetland Jimmie Rodgers

Its the 60's/70's and we are on Burra Isle part of The UK's most northern
Island chain of The Shetlands and we are in the company of Thomas Fraser and
"You and My Old Guitar". This is the second release of the lost recordings
of Shetlands yodelling fisherman Thomas Fraser and further proof in a wider
scale, if needed, that this finger of rocky outcrops pointing to the north
pole is our most musical sensitive region.

Until his sad demise in 1978 at the age of 50, due to injuries he sustained
while doing his job as fisherman, Thomas had reared a family and worked a
croft, while pursuing his life's passion of recreating the songs of Jimmie
Rogers (and other country greats, Hank, Lefty etc) as well as writing his
own songs, in the blue yodelling style of the singing brakeman.

Since the release of the first volume "Long Gone Lonesome Blues" Thomas has
become a minor cult, and his charming and remarkably authentic music has
enthralled all who have old timey ears to listen. I had the good fortune of
being able to send it to Texan broadcaster Eddie Russell, to a rave revue
from the influential DJ, and airplay on his Country Eastern West Radio Show.

The cult was born out of the discovery of Thomas's lifes work on reel to
reel tapes in the loft of his cottage, on Burra Isle, and the loving
remastering of Karl Simpson, his grandson. This really is as enchanting a
story and musical project as it is possible to imagine, these recording have
a warmth of experience that could not be reproduced, not with all the
technology the 21st century could offer, this is a look at the pure heart of
a man loving what he is doing and doing it for that love alone.

Thomas Fraser learned this craft, listening to US Forces radio and from the
complete back catalogue of Jimmie Rodgers which he ordered form the music shop
in Lerwick. Though Thomas performed, only for himself and his (for its day)
state of the art Bang and Olufsen tape recorder, and only when pushed, for
family and friends, I have it on good authority he did one live concert, in
which the story goes, due to intolerable stage fright he never appeared from
behind the curtains and played his set out of sight of the audience from the
wings of the Burra community hall. If this gives you the impression you are
dealing with an unaccomplished amateur, forget it, Fraser's hillbilly guitar
playing (and in fact his fiddling) are of the highest standards, his singing
is astounding and highlighted by the best dam yodelling you will hear this
side of The Pecos (or the other side come to that!!).

What we have here is a unique experience, these are Thomas's own personal
documents of the music he loved, and played for his own appreciation alone.
Lost documents of one mans musical quest. An impressive mimic and musical
clone yes, but what is really important here is that we have a chance to
enjoy a master, devoid of any self promotion, or even the slightest
performance issues, freed from any hint of ego corruption. That's what makes
this a truly rare experience, these wonderful recording are a songster
singing for the sheer joy of hearing his own voice and guitar recreating the
music he loved, imbued with the atmosphere of his own life and times, pure
reflections of in a older time half a world away.

Highlights Blue yodel #1, T for Texas, Carolina Moon, Abilene, Unwanted Sign
Upon My Heart, on which he is joined by his wife on Guitar, Mule Skinner
Blues, Careless Hands, the comprehensive and entertaining sleeve notes will
guide you through the story further, and bring you closer to the music and
the man as you read and listen to the 25 tracks on offer.

As a postscript to this story and indication to the importance of his
unlikely legacy, I have a story of my own. I was doing the sound for Mark
Dean The Yodelling Mix Master at The Lemon Tree in Aberdeen and had slipped
a Jimmie Rodgers track on for pre gig audience edification, when a young lass
no more that 18 came up to me and asked in a broad Shetland drawl, "Who Ist
dat tyour playin"? I had the presence of mind to say "No its not Thomas
Fraser" and she said without hesitation "Oh Its Chimmie Rodgers den"

It turns out the Burra Isle people have an annual Thomas Fraser day and they
come from far and wide to sing and yodel on Thomas's birthday, I'm going to
make that pilgrimage one of these years. I suggest you buy this album ASAP,
I'm told the first one is nearly out of print, and I believe this will prove
more popular as this story and music spreads around the world.

Rob Ellen

http://www.thomasfraser.com

Chuck Brodsky : Baseball ballads
Country Music Scotland review by Rob Ellen