SMM #74: October 2nd, 2024
Back with some great new releases, a Mixed Bag playlist, and a profile on bluegrass-rock jam band, Railroad Earth.
New Releases
THE HEAVY HEAVY - One of a Kind… second release from the U.K. duo of Will Turner and Georgie Fuller (they expand to a 5-piece band when playing live)… I reviewed their debut EP last year in SMM #57, along with their live set at Prospect Park in Brooklyn, and they immediately became one of my favorite new bands… One of a Kind is their first proper album and it doesn’t disappoint… they serve up a dozen catchy, rockin’ tunes featuring their throwback sound which draws from many 60s era influences, reminding me of a rock ‘n’ roll version of The Mamas & The Papas with some psychedelic touches thrown in… they are currently on a nationwide U.S. tour promoting the album so check them out if they come to your town!
TAB BENOIT - I Hear Thunder… Louisiana-born guitarist, Benoit, hails from the “swampier” side of the blues-rock street… starting in 1992, he released twelve excellent solo albums culminating in 2011’s Medicine where he teamed up with New Orleans’ Anders Osborne who produced the album, played guitar and co-wrote a bunch of the songs… so after a 13 year gap due to a bad record deal that took Benoit that long to extricate himself from, the release of I Hear Thunder is a welcome event for his fans… the record, once again features Osborne who co-wrote all ten tracks and also plays guitar on every song… while there’s plenty of Benoit’s signature swamp-blues sound on songs like “Watching the Gators Roll In”, “Little Queenie” and the Bo Diddley-style rocker, “The Ghost of Gatemouth Brown”, there is also a harder-rockin’ edge that reminds me of Gov’t Mule and ZZ Top on tunes like the title track, “Inner Child” and the album closer, “Bayou Man”... so after a VERY lengthy absence from the recording studio, Benoit has picked up where he left off with this outstanding new release…
KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD - Dirt On My Diamonds, Vol. 2… another Louisiana native, Shepherd arrived on the scene at the age of 18 with his gold-selling debut album, Ledbetter Heights, back in 1995… he was part of a wave of young blues-rock guitarists to come along in the wake of Stevie Ray Vaughan following his tragic death in 1990 but unlike most of them, KWS has carved out a fine, long career… he has continued to be successful following his hit debut by keeping things fresh and not sitting on his laurels, cranking out “formula” blues-rock albums… he has hit the road and played with veteran blues artists on their home turf and done a tribute album to his musical heroes with all-star guests like Ringo Starr, Joe Walsh and Warren Haynes… Vol. 1 of this latest release was released last November and recorded at legendary FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama… these songs were written there and recorded in L.A. and continue to reflect the R&B, horn-laden sounds that studio is known for while still featuring plenty of KWS’s stellar guitar work…
LUTHER DICKINSON & JD SIMO - Do the Rump… Dickinson, of the North Mississippi All-Stars, gets back to his Mississippi hill country and Delta juke joint blues roots on this tasty collaboration with Nashville guitarist/vocalist, JD Simo… the duo first met up as touring members of Phil Lesh & Friends, the former Grateful Dead bassist’s long-running entourage, and while the Dead’s music bears no resemblance to this, the stint with Lesh does show the two guitarists’ versatility… Simo’s music does share the same influences as Dickinson (check out Simo’s 2023 album, Songs from the House of Grease) so you can see why the two musicians hit it off on what Glide Magazine calls "An electrified blast of grease and grit"...
NICK LOWE & LOS STRAITJACKETS - Indoor Safari… Lowe is the definition of an “old pro”... he has been putting out high quality albums ever since his classic 1978 debut, Pure Pop for Now People… in recent years, the retro-rock group, Los Straitjackets, has served as his touring band and that alliance eventually led to the recording of Indoor Safari, Lowe’s first studio album since 2013… the result is Los Straitjackets have added a little more rock ‘n’ roll edge to Lowe’s music on this excellent album… the music is reminiscent of the one-off 1980 gem, Seconds of Pleasure, that Lowe made with Dave Edmunds and their band, Rockpile… check that album out too if you like this one from Lowe…
Playlist: Scattered Nuggets - Mixed Bag, Vol. 7
Going with a MIXED BAG playlist this issue… made a late addition to the playlist after hearing country-folk great Kris Kristofferson passed away earlier this week… went with the original recording from his debut album of what is likely the most well-known song he wrote, “Me and Bobby McGee” (Janis Joplin’s cover is the version everyone knows)… after kicking off with that, we have some rock, some blues, bluegrass, country, folk, instrumentals, gospel, combinations of these styles and anything else that grabbed me… there’s Dick Dale, the “King of Surf Guitar” with one of his late-career burners... weird Americana from 16 Horsepower and Charlie Parr… drinking songs from guitar legend Roy Buchanan and folk-rocker, Loudon Wainwright III… R&B style blues from GA-20 and Louisiana legend, Slim Harpo… swaggering country-rock from Jason Eady & Taylor Hunnicutt and Eilen Jewell… a psych/folk/bluegrass jam from the Magic Tuber Stringband and bluegrass-style blues from Jerry Garcia & David Grisman… interesting cover versions of songs from well-known artists by Blind Boys of Alabama (Rolling Stones), John Hammond (Tom Waits) and sax great King Curtis with Duane Allman on guitar (The Band)... and finally, The Band themselves from their final studio album, 1998’s Jubilation… this was also the last album to feature the vocals of Rick Danko before he passed away in 1999 and he’s in good form on this great horn-driven tune…
Artist Spotlight: Railroad Earth
Back in my heavy jam band days in the early 2000s, I discovered the band Railroad Earth… their combination of bluegrass instruments with a traditional bass/drums rock music rhythm section produced a rather original sound at the time… there were other bluegrass-based bands with rhythm sections already around like Leftover Salmon (more traditional bluegrass sound) and The String Cheese Incident (more electric sound) but Railroad Earth had something unique going on…
The band formed in New Jersey after members of various local bluegrass bands started playing together at informal jam sessions and open-mike events… initial members Tim Carbone (violin, electric guitar) and Andy Goessling (acoustic guitar, mandolin, banjo) were soon joined by Todd Scheaffer (vocals, acoustic guitar)... Scheaffer contributed the first batch of songs and they were off and running… session player John Skehan (mandolin, guitar, piano), drummer Carey Harmon and bassist Dave Von Dollen completed the lineup in January 2001 and they released their first album, The Black Bear Sessions, later that year…
They have since released seven more studio albums, the latest being 2022's All for the Song… there have been a few lineup changes since then but founding members Carbone, Scheaffer, Skehan and Harmon are still there… I would highly recommend checking out their stellar 2006 live album, Elko, along with the more recent live opus, Live Tracks: Horn O’Plenty 11.30.19… this is where they really shine, jamming things out in a live setting… I have seen them in concert a few times and they were great every time… unfortunately, they don’t really play a lot of shows in NYC; the closest they usually get is the Capitol Theater up in Port Chester in Westchester… you will have more opportunities to see them in Colorado and California which seems to be where their biggest fan base is… they are even the host band for a long-running festival in Placerville, California formerly known as the Hangtown Music Festival and now the Golden Road Gathering… anyway, check out the playlist and if you like what you hear, go see them if they come your way!
Also want to mention, I will be following up this issue next week with a “Live Music Roundup” of my recent adventures in NYC — SL