Tag Archives: Americana

Mark Lennon: Down the Mountain

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MarkLennon_DownTheMountainCarolinian country-rocker transplanted to California

Mark Lennon is a North Carolina native whose southern roots can be heard in the bluegrass-inflected harmonies of this third release. His adopted Los Angeles has also made an impact on Lennon’s music in the airiness of his melodies and the sunshine of the guitar strumming. His music brings to mind the folk- and country-rock sounds of early ‘70s Golden State transplants like Brewer & Shipley, but also acts like the Amazing Rhythm Aces, Ozark Mountain Daredevils and Grateful Dead. You can also hear the flowing road rhythms of the Allman Brothers in the piano and guitar jam of “What I Could Be With You.” Lennon’s voice bears a strong resemblance to Ryan Adams’; he conjures a modern balance of instruments on the superb “Wildside” by adding horns to piano and acoustic guitar for a duet with Simone Stevens. Lennon has been in California for seven years, but he still considers himself a Southerner, offering up the lovelorn letter of homesickness, “Tennessee.” At twenty-eight minutes this is halfway between EP and album, but all eight songs are solid, so really all you’re missing are the four album tracks that don’t always measure up. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

MP3 | Down the Mountain
Mark Lennon’s Home Page

Pauline Kyllonen: Pauline Kyllonen

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PaulineKyllonen_PaulineKyllonenCountry-rock and folk-Americana from B.C. singer-songwriter

Pauline Kyllonen is a country-rock singer from British Columbia whose 2008 debut EP opens with a gutsy rocker that favorably recalls ‘70s belters like Ellen Foley and Genya Raven. Yet it’s ballads that appear foremost on Kyllonen’s song list, as the original “Rainbow Café” drops the romping electric guitar of the opener for pedal steel and a moving lyric of small town stasis and a life that’s passed by. She sings sweetly, reaching into her high register for the folk-jazz “Like a River,” bring to mind early Joni Mitchell, and closes with a ballad whose heavy drums and low organ match the power of her singing. Kyllonen is served by solid arrangements that keep her strong voice and lyrics front and center. If Nashville were still interested in three chords and the truth, “Rainbow Café” would have already been snatched up by one of its current hitmakers. As it is, this four-song EP is a good introduction for listeners and a great calling card to the lucky label who eventually signs Kyllonen. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

MP3 | Rainbow Cafe
Pauline Kyllonen’s Home Page

Roger & The Rockets: Walking Band

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RogerAndTheRockets_WalkingBandAmericana rock ‘n’ roll, folk and country from Sweden

Can you call it Americana when it hails from Sweden? Apparently so. Roger is lead vocalist and songwriter Roger Häggström of Örnsköldsvik, Sweden, and the Rockets are a rock ‘n’ roll band that plays rootsy grooves and country-rock sounds that will remind you of Brinsley Schwarz, Commander Cody, NRBQ, the Morells and BR5-49. Their second album features thirteen originals that include a Celtic touch in the foot-stomping title tune, the Roy Loney-styled rockabilly “Milk & Honey,” and the dobro-lined close harmony of “Crash & Burn.” There are British Invasion harmonies and chord changes in “Got to Go,” twangy baritone guitar on “Wendy,” and a Phil Ochs-styled folk protest on “One United State.” Häggström writes joyous odes to music making and blossoming love, chagrined lyrics of leaving one’s lover for the demands of a job, and inevitably broken hearts. In addition to bass, guitar and drums, the album includes banjolin, dobro, lap steel, washboard and violin. The latter, played by Björn Sohlin, is particularly effective on the cantering love song, “Maybe.” Häggström is a solid songwriter and vocalist, and the band is accomplished in both craft and range, resulting in a compelling sophomore album of folk-country-roots-rock. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

MP3 | Walking Band
Roger & The Rockets’ Home Page
Roger & The Rockets’ MySpace Page

Lissie: Why You Runnin’

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Lissie_WhyYouRunninArresting, intense folk-rock Americana

Lissie Maurus is a folk-rock singer from the west Illinois border town of Rock Island. Although there’s a rustic Midwestern edge to her Americana, her transplantation to Los Angeles, and national and international gigs have elevated her music beyond coffee-house strumming. Her voice pulls you in close with confessional introductions and then attacks with arresting outbursts of emotion. The exclamation of “danger will follow me now everywhere I go, angels will fall on me and take me to my home” finds her bending back from the microphone to make room for a lungful of emotion. The empty spaces in the studio add presence and dimension as she steps back to keep the needles from pinning red with her fervor.

There’s a bluesy edge in her vocals, not unlike Joan Osborne, but with the earthier, more distracted air of Edie Brickell. The productions often arc from contemplative openings to emotional conclusions. “Little Lovin’” rolls through its first half with only a bass drum (and your toe-tapping) to keep the beat, but a deep bottom end rolls in, Lissie’s vocals rise and hand-clapping rhythms spur the vocals to soar into full-throated scatting. The abandon with which she vocalizes has the improvisational verve of a live jam, blowing past the artifice of studio recording. Her cover of Hank Williams’ “Wedding Bells” turns its despondency from hangdog to forlorn, and the original male-perspective lyrics (“you wanted me to see you change your name”) gain additional layers when sung in a woman’s voice.

An ode to Lissie’s native river, “Oh Mississippi,” is sung with a gospel piano and overdubbed choir, and though it may remind you of “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” it turns into a fervent elegy for the failing industrial heart of America. Here too Lissie hits a second gear to bring the song to a tremendous emotional climax. Bill Reynolds’ production is spare but filled with touches – a tambourine or a tom-tom riff – that provide instrumental accents that complement the vocal dynamics. He leaves Lissie up-front, where listeners can hang on to both her emphatic notes and dramatic pauses. A full LP recorded in Nashville with a pickup band and producer Jacquire King is apparently sitting in the can, but it’s hard to imagine it captured Lissie in such disarmingly naked moments as this brilliant five-song EP. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

MP3 | Little Lovin’
MP3 | Everywhere I Go
Lissie’s MySpace Page

RIP Scotland Barr

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ScotlandBarrAndTheSlowDragsScotland Barr passed away September 1st after a year-long battle with pancreatic cancer. His last album with the Slow Drags, All the Aviators Agree, found its way on to many reviewers top album list for 2008 with its combination of Americana, British Invasion, southern rock and West Coast pop.

The band was feverishly working on a new double album to be titled (unironically at the time) We Will Be Forgotten. Four stupendous songs have been released and can be found linked below. The band, unable to tour without their leader, is seeking fan support to finish the album. Please visit their home page to find out about the Finish the Album Fund.

MP3 | Eyes Like L.A.
MP3 | Rasputin and Me
MP3 | Everybody Knows
MP3 | Right Where You’re Supposed to Be

Elliott Brood: Mountain Meadows

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ElliottBrood_MountainMeadowsUpbeat folk- and country-tinged rock tells a very dark tale

The pastoral title of Elliott Brood’s second album (originally release in Canada in 2008) is a head-fake, as is the upbeat tone of the folk- and country-tinged rock. The songwriting themes were inspired from the dark story of an 1857 massacre in which 120 men, women and children were slaughtered as they emigrated across Utah towards California. Songwriters Mark Sasso and Casey Laforet ponder not the deaths, but the lives of those who witnessed and survived the massacre, and rather gruesomely, the children who were adopted by the very Mormons who’d led the assault. Like their countrymen, The Sadies, Elliott Brood’s music is impossible to pin down to a single genre. In volume they’re a rock band, but in tone they augment their wall-of-sound guitars with nineteenth century elements of banjo and ukulele, and martial rhythms.

The trio creates music that’s often sparse, but still attacks with its dynamics. Hard-strummed acoustics, crashing cymbals and drum accents punctuate Mark Sasso’s impassioned, accusing vocals. Even when the music breaks down to ukulele and scavenged percussion, the background vocal exclamations continue to taunt. Sasso’s high, raspy voice will remind you of both Perry Farrell and Shannon Hoon, as he gives voice to travelers unsure they’ll survive the travails of the journey, angsty emigrants led uneasily away from their wagons, murderers haunted by misdeeds, and faint memories of the children left behind. Rather than a literal retelling of the massacre, the album is written as impressionistic fiction grown from the historical premise. This is a musically satisfying album, though you may wish the lyrics more transparently imagined the story from which their inspiration was drawn. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

Elliott Brood’s Home Page
Elliott Brood’s MySpace Page

James McMurtry: Live in Europe

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JamesMcMurtry_LiveInEuropeOpinionated Americana rocks the EU

James McMurtry’s never been shy with his opinions on politics and society, and playing his songs for a European audience one has to wonder whether his metaphors translate to a more universal sentiment or simply provide a peephole into an American’s view of his own country. This 8-song live CD features five titles from 2008’s Just Us Kids on which McMurtry cataloged political diseases and social isolation. Two of that album’s most scathing pieces, “God Bless America” and “Cheney’s Toy” are left out here, which is a shame considering the CD fills only half its space at 42 minutes. The accompanying DVD, taped in Amsterdam,  duplicates two titles from the CD, but adds four more including the early “Too Long in the Wasteland” and a cover of Jon Dee Graham’s “Laredo,” on which Graham himself guests. A lengthy live version of “Choctaw Bingo” gives both McMurtry and legendary keyboard player Ian McLagan a chance to show their instrumental wares. The sound is sharp, and though the songs are played largely as recorded on their studio albums, the band adds a punchy rock dynamic. The rhythm section is potent, the guitar twangy, and McLagan’s organ and piano are especially satisfying. McMurtry sings in a limited range, but this gives his live vocals an effective element of speech making. Delivered in a tight-fitting two-panel cardboard slipcase this is more a memento of the tour than a new chapter in McMurtry’s career (as was his previous live album, Aught-Three), but it’s a solid representation of the current state of his art. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

MP3 | Bayou Tortue
James McMurtry’s Home Page
James McMurtry’s MySpace Page

Hollis Brown: Hollis Brown

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HollisBrown_HollisBrownAngsty radio pop, Stonesish blues and twangy Americana

Hollis Brown lead singer Mike Montali is hard to pin down. He sounds a bit like the Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson, a bit like Neil Young, a bit like the Gin Blossoms’ Robin Wilson, and a bit like Robert Plant. He’s got the high edginess (and falsetto) with which they each create emotional tension, and though the band’s guitar, bass, drums, organ and harmonica share a ’70s rock ‘n’ roll vibe with the Crowes, Zeppelin, and Blossoms, they add twangy blues and country roots that really belie their urban Queens upbringing. The album opens with the exuberant “Show Love” and follows with the roiling guitars and stinging lyrical rebuke of “Walk on Water.” The songs track through Stones-styled rock, ambling Americana, broken-hearted country twang, shuffling sing-a-longs and angsty pop. The group’s melodic hooks will stick in your head for days, and Montali’s voice is memorable, whether singing up-tempo rockers or slowing to surprise with the Stax-styled soul of “Don’t Wanna Miss You.” One can only assume Hollis Brown polished these tunes in numerous live gigs, as their self-assurance in the studio translates to terrific passion and swagger on disc. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

MP3 | Show Love
MP3 | Passin’ Me By
MP3 | Completed Fool
Hollis Brown’s Home Page
Hollis Brown’s MySpace Page

Charlie Faye: Wilson St.

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CharlieFaye_WilsonStNYC singer-songwriter transplanted to Austin

Faye arrived in Austin, from New York City, a couple years back, having already recorded her debut album Last Kids in the Bar in 2006. The band on that first album mixed country, folk and blues, but even with banjos and electric guitars behind her, Faye remained more of a singer-songwriter than a country chanteuse, folklorist or blues shouter; huskier voiced than Laura Nyro, but with a similar flair. And so it is on her second album, accompanied by Will Sexton, David Holt and Rick Richards, she’s replaced the East Village grit with a more bucolic Austin tone, yet remains more a singer-songwriter than a band leader or Americana artist. Faye’s songs – she wrote or so-wrote all ten tracks – are populated by carnal invitations, groupies, cheating mates, lonely nights and broken hearts. Even the sunshine of “Summer Legs” is clouded over by a survivor’s isolation. The album closes with uncertainty finally losing its footing to love on the acoustic ballad “Ready to Fall.” Faye’s found a nurturing community in Austin, but ironically, her music has become less twangy and more vocally focused with her move West. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

MP3 | Jersey Pride
Buy Wilson St. via Nimbit

Michael Dean Damron: Father’s Day

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MichaelDeanDamron_FathersDayEdgy singer-songwriter Americana

After three albums in front of I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch in the House, Portland’s Michael Dean Damron transitioned fully to a solo career. As Mike D. he sang heavy and rough blues-edged rock that was at once rootsy and in-your-face. As Michael Dean Damron he’s reconstituted as a singer-songwriter, backed by a lower-key combo called Thee Loyal Bastards. His voice still has plenty of edge, but his songs are built for strummed guitars and shuffling rhythms, and with the backing band’s volume turned down, there’s more room for nuance in his vocals. He sings with the sort of grit you’ve heard from Willie Nile, Steve Forbert, John Hiatt, James McMurtry and others whose rock ‘n’ roll hearts are tattooed with stripes of country and blues.

This third solo album offers first-person emotions through original songs of dysfunctional relationships, broken hearts, suicidal situations, plainspoken social discontent (“same old shit, different day”), and memorable imagery (“poverty is a pistol, pointed at our heads”). Damron’s song titles retain the pungency of his earlier group’s, with “I’m a Bastard” rendered as a raw guitar-and-harmonica blues and the modern-day break-up “I Hope Your New Boyfriend Gives You A.I.D.S.” thankfully not repeating its death wish in the lyrics.

Damron shows off fine taste in covers with a haunted version of Drag the River’s “Beautiful and Damned,” a crawl through Thin Lizzy’s “Dancing in the Moonlight” that’s more Tom Waits than Van Morrison, and a folky solo of “Waiting Around to Die” that’s less aggrieved than Townes Van Zandt’s original. Whatever he sings, he digs into it, often using stripped down solo guitar arrangements to free himself from band time. The results have a live dynamic, with gentle plucking giving way to hard strumming and introspective realizations turning into shouted confessions. It isn’t pretty, but it’s not meant to be. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

MP3 | Father’s Day
Michael Dean Damron’s Home Page