SMM #8: April 30th, 2021
A fresh batch of new music, a female focused six-pack playlist, and notes on a few legendary alt-country albums.
New Releases
DAMON FOWLER - Alafia Moon… the latest release from the Tampa, FL, guitarist blends blues, R&B, country and swamp rock on an excellent collection of mostly original tunes featuring Fowler’s sizzling southern blues guitar stylings… Fowler’s talents have been recognized by many guitar greats and he has worked with Jeff Beck, Buddy Guy, Johnny Winter and Robin Trower, among others...
STEVE CROPPER - Fire It Up… the 79-year old Cropper is a Rock & Roll Hall of Famer and founding member of legendary soul band, Booker T. & The MG’s… he has played with and produced a who’s-who of all-time great artists, written numerous soul classics and occasionally puts out his own albums… this is his first in 10 years and it is a soul-rocking good time filled with his stellar signature guitar work...
GOSPELBEACH - Jam Jam EP… the latest from this California-based band is a 5-song EP of catchy obscure glam/pop covers that is a very enjoyable listen… GospelBeach has several other albums that are definitely worth exploring if you are a fan of the California/Laurel Canyon/country-rock sound made famous by bands like CSNY, America, and the New Riders of the Purple Sage…
CRISTINA VANE- Nowhere Sounds Lovely… impressive debut release from this young singer and guitarist who was born in Italy and raised in Europe before moving to the U.S. to attend Princeton University… post-college she ended up settling in Nashville, where this album was recorded… Vane blends blues, rock, folk and country on a set of originals featuring her bottleneck slide guitar playing…she cites pre-war era bluesmen like Robert Johnson, Skip James, and Blind Willie Johnson as her main musical influences…
Six-Pack of Songs #6: Rockin’ Women
This issue’s 6-Pack playlist features a group of my favorite “Rock N Roll Women”... Massachusetts roots-rocker, Sarah Borges, kicks things off with “Purple GTO” from her 2016 EP, Good And Dirty… her 2005 debut album, Silver City, is a “hidden gem” that I will likely feature in a future issue of SMM… next up is Australia’s Courtney Barnett with “David” from her first official album, The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas… Courtney is a great songwriter who applies quirky, clever lyrics to mundane topics within a rockin’ musical framework… country artist Elizabeth Cook definitely brings a rock edge to most of her songs which frequently cover the “sex, drugs & rock n’ roll” turf, like this tune, “Rock n Roll Man”, from her 2010 album, Welder… “Shackle & Chain” is from Bette Smith’s 2017 debut album, Jetlagger, and it shows off her powerful soul-rocking vocals... if you like this, check out her intense, high-energy 2020 release The Good, The Bad & The Bette which features support from members of the Drive-By Truckers and Luther Dickinson of the North Mississippi All-Stars… versatile Irish singer Imelda May has adopted many musical styles over the years, starting with rockabilly in the early 2000s and more recently, moving to contemporary rock & pop… “Just One Kiss” is a duet with Oasis singer, Noel Gallagher, and also features Rolling Stones guitarist, Ronnie Wood… the set closes with blues/rock guitarist & singer, Samantha Fish on a hard-driving burner, “Bulletproof”, that features her nasty slide guitar playing… it’s from Fish’s highly recommended 2019 album, Kill or Be Kind…
Record Spotlight: Alt-Country Royalty
Artist: Uncle Tupelo
Album: Anodyne
Release Date: October 5th, 1993
Artist: Wilco
Album: A.M.
Release Date: March 28th, 1995
Artist: Son Volt
Album: Trace
Release Date: September 19th, 1995
Alternative Country, or more commonly referred to as “Alt-Country” is one of my favorite musical genres… the term came into use in the 1990s and, per Wikipedia, refers to country music “infused with a strong punk and rock and roll aesthetic”...the band that best defines alt-country was Uncle Tupelo, led by lifelong friends, Jeff Tweedy and Jay Farrar… they issued four classic albums between 1990 and 1993: No Depression, Still Feel Gone, March 16-20, 1992 and Anodyne… all are great but my favorite is Anodyne, which is generally considered their best album and probably the high-water mark of the alt-country genre... it was released in 1993, and after a follow-up tour to promote the album, the band broke up… Tweedy took three other members of Uncle Tupelo and formed Wilco, while Farrar reunited with Tupelo’s original drummer to start the band, Son Volt…
Both artists stuck to the alt-country template on the initial albums with their new bands… Tweedy was first out of the gate with Wilco’s debut release, A.M… the album features mostly good-time, rollicking country rock tunes and definitely has a more upbeat feel than Uncle Tupelo’s albums… Son Volt’s debut album, Trace, sounds more like Uncle Tupelo and is considered a classic of the genre… although Farrar has put out solid to excellent albums with Son Volt since, he has never been able to match Trace… unlike Tweedy & Wilco, he’s basically stuck with the alt-country sound… his more recent albums, Notes of Blue (2017) and Union (2019) are worth checking out...
Wilco quickly moved well beyond the alt-country sounds of their debut and eventually became the adventurous, experimental band we know today… admittedly, I stopped listening to their albums after the second one, Being There, but I have seen them live a couple times and thought they were great… first time as an opener for Neil Young at Madison Square Garden in 2008 and the other time as part of Bob Dylan’s 2013 Americanarama Festival that also featured another great band, My Morning Jacket… Wilco and MMJ both blew away Dylan that nite who was definitely not on his game…
To close, some other alt-country artists worth checking out are the Bottle Rockets, Alejandro Escovedo, Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle & The Dukes, Drive-By Truckers and Old 97’s. Below is a link to a great Spotify playlist, “Alt Country Classics”...— SL