100Words : Parker Millsap “The Very Last Day” Album Reviews by Brian Carroll - June 29, 2016June 29, 20160 If a voice was a knife, then Parker Millsap’s vocal could cut out my heart with one swift, clean swipe. “The Very Last Day” is the songwriter’s latest and has a raw, impassioned and animalistic blend of blues, rock and folk music that delivers time after time. The 11 tracks are defined by power and maintaining a sense of equilibrium with pensive and imaginative songwriting and the occasional swoon worthy croon as Millsap’s voice ebbs and flows with the narrative of the record. At times danceable and with extreme movement and other times tender and poignant. It has it all.
100Words: Kacy & Clayton “Strange Country” Album Reviews by Brian Carroll - June 28, 20160 There is something of a timeless quality to the music of Kacy & Clayton. An almost medieval meets modernity that confounds sensible reasoning, but the blend works beautifully. Clayton Linthicum’s guitar playing fills far more space than a guitar in another player’s hands could fathom and Kacy Anderson’s voice is like a delicate, flowing breeze that whisps through space, filling the voids with a captivating and mysterious sound, engaging and calling like a siren through a storm. The duo blends their voices and guitar work to be something far bigger than the sum of their parts. The result is breathtaking beauty. Strange Country (Canadian Edition) by Kacy & ClaytonMore about the band: Kacy Anderson on vocals, violin, and Clayton Linthicum on guitar, melodeon, and vocals. The duo
Album Review: Levi Parham “These American Blues” Album Reviews by Ken Templeton - June 22, 2016June 22, 20160 A couple of years ago, I clicked play on Levi Parham’s daytrotter session and by the end of the first song I was checking to see when he’d be touring in New England. Parham is from southeast Oklahoma and doesn’t make it this way too much; I finally got to see him at the beginning of June at Atwood’s and he wrung himself out for a small, but very appreciative crowd. Just before Levi went on, I heard a guy say to the bartender, “I’m gonna shoot off in five minutes, so let me settle up.” I looked over an hour later, and he was still there, eyes glued to the stage. Levi is a captivating performer, with a searing
Album Review: Muddy Ruckus “Pretty Bones” Album Reviews by Brian Carroll - June 16, 20160 Broke down, broke open, broke up, and plain-ole-flat broke—Muddy Ruckus wants you to dance in the ditch and and bless the blues that make you feel alive. Hailing from Portland Maine, guitarist Ryan Flaherty and percussionist Erika Stahl that make up Muddy Ruckus have been performing since 2013, dropping their first self-titled disc in 2014. The pair pull from a range of styles—Roots, Blues, Southern Folk/Rock—and use their distinctive, keening harmonies to produce a sound that is fresh and homey, evident on their latest release “Pretty Bones.” Everyone’s on the run from something or someone in the songs on “Pretty Bones.” But no one is running too far, or too fast, tethered to loves they can’t quit or lives that refuse to
Above the Tide: Sarah Jarosz’s “Undercurrent” Sails Strong Album Reviews Uncategorized by Brian Carroll - June 14, 20160 Last week I spent a road trip consisting of six hours in a car, each way, with the latest effort from multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter Sarah Jarosz. I then got home and proceeded to continue listening to this record over and over again. If that tells you anything, its that the well crafted songs contained within the collection have an addictive staying power. Jarosz manages to walk a very delicate line between virtuosity in her musical abilities with catchiness and hooks that reel you in and keep you listening. Undercurrent finds the songwriter in a place of maturity and growth. There is much of the same in her voicing, of course, compared to 2013's 'Build Me Up From Bones', but and underlying
The Quahogs ‘Sunny Waste’ Album Review Album Reviews by Ken Templeton - June 7, 20160 From the first notes of Sunny Waste, the latest effort from the Providence-based Quahogs, you find yourself unwinding. It’s not a mellow album at all, but it’s not stuffy--the band plays in a loose and connected way. Steve Donovan’s lead guitar work is a real highlight - he complements Steve Delmonico’s growling vocals perfectly with perfectly timed blues runs. He reminds me of the way Mike Bloomfield punctuated Paul Butterfield and Bob Dylan’s work in the mid-1960s. Delmonico writes the lion’s share of the lyrics, and they are straightforward and unpretentious. I love the first song, “Fight or Flight”. It’s reminiscent of The Basement Tapes with a jukey piano and lyrics that are tough to make out but that effectively
Album Review: William Tyler “Modern Country” Album Reviews by Ken Templeton - June 3, 20160 William Tyler’s forthcoming instrumental album, Modern Country, is gorgeous. And while it ain’t country, these nine instrumental pieces clearly draw on the various traditions of blues and country music that have shaped so much of American culture. Beyond musical influences, the album seems to consider landscape and place as well—the final song features a birdsong interlude about halfway through. Many of the songs feature rich, textured instrumentation, but they all maintain a tight connection to Tyler’s masterfully played guitar that defines the shape and scope of each composition. Tyler’s band features Phil Cook (Hiss Golden Messenger), Glenn Kotche (Wilco), and Darin Gray (Tweedy) and it’s easy to see why Tyler fits in so well as a sometime-member of HGM and as
Universal Harmony: Thank God For Science “Self Titled” Volume 1 Review Album Reviews Uncategorized by Brian Carroll - May 16, 2016May 16, 20160 Inter-galactric space porno music on an acid trip during some trippy part of the late 60s…this was my initial thought when I heard the debut record from Thank God For Science. Then I realized that a phrase like that would undermine the sheer brilliance of its musicality. There is, of course, a bass heavy flow to the music contained within the dozen tracks on this collection. It is after all the brain child of one of the finest bass players the Northeast has to offer in Jeremy Moses Curtis. And, of course, the music does take you on a trip, but it’s not a psychedelic-induced one. It’s more of a roadtrip through a variety of musical landscapes of instrumental tunes
First Listen: Samantha Farrell ‘September Sun’ Album Reviews by Brian Carroll - May 4, 20160 Oddly enough, Samantha Farrell's September Sun hits me in May...I suppose, whats in a name anyway, right? The record as a whole encompasses a very Autumn kind of a feel to it. When things of Summer have begun to die away and the inevitable Winter lies ahead. Not to say the record is reflective of death or loss, but it certainly is reflective in many ways. It casts this shadowed veil of gray in a way that is introspective and curious it its own way. There are layers purposefully placed for you to unearth whats beneath. And there are no shortage of illusions to that Autumn theme either. 'Like a Leaf' is a prime example and one of my favorites
Roll With The Tide: Monica Rizzio Releases Washashore Cowgirl (Club Passim March 31) Album Reviews by Brian Carroll - March 30, 2016March 30, 20160 I don’t often like to look at an artist and think of their pedigree before listening to their music, but with Monica Rizzio and her latest record “Washashore Cowgirl”, its tough to do. Fronting a well established and engrained bluegrass band in the New England community and looking at the liner notes with a list of “who’s who” in the bluegrass realm (Sierra Hill, Mark Erelli, Brittany Hass and more) certainly helps add to the high expectations of a record. The former Tripping Lily front gal hung up her condenser mic for a more robust band line up and it certainly shows on this latest release. The salt of Cape Cod hasn’t fully washed away the slight twang in Rizzio’s voice,