CAPTURED LIGHT Great Lake Swimmers (Spotify) *****+
This is the 9th album for this Ontario-based roots band, and it’s a stunner. Captured Light has a comforting, breezy quality not unlike Blue Rodeo meets REM or Ray LaMontagne. The combination of deep, thoughtful lyrics and acoustic guitar-driven melodies is unforgettable.
Finding music in unexpected ways is delightful. We were watching Kaeshammer’s Kitchen on CHEK (the local TV station) here in Victoria on the weekend. It’s a cooking show hosted by pianist Michael Kaeshammer where other musicians are invited to help cook a meal, then Michael and the guest play a couple of the artist’s songs at the end of the show. Great Lake Swimmers founder Tony Dekker was the guest on Saturday, they made pizza then played a couple of songs including One More Dance Around The Sun, the latest single. I was so taken with it that I was on the computer tracking it down on I Tunes before the end credits rolled.
Captured Light was recorded as GLS holed up in Ganaraska Forest, between Peterborough and Port Hope in Ontario, according to the band’s website, with producer Darby Yates and engineer Jimmy Bowskill. Their goal was to capture the vibe of early 70’s folk/ pop/ rock and they succeeded with room to spare. Producer Yates, who had been the band’s bassist in 07/08, chose the backing band which included drummer Gary Craig (Bruce Cockburn, Jann Arden). Tracking was done in just 3 days, with overdubs taking another two.
Captured Light captures the joy and simplicity of small town life. Dekker, who grew up in a small town, moved back to the Niagara Peninsula with his partner and kids during the pandemic. “I spent the first half of my life trying to get out of the small town where I was raised” he remarks, “and I’m spending the second half getting back there.” You can feel the gratitude Tony has for the way things have turned out, it really shines through the music. As for the meaning behind each of the tracks, I suggest you go the website and read the bio.
Before this past weekend I had never heard of Great Lake Swimmers and now, thanks to Captured Light, I can’t get enough. This is good company, a meditation for the soul.
HOT TRACKS: One More Dance Around The Sun, Running Out Of Time, The Fledgling Jay
TWO TRAINS Dave Keyes (MoMojo Records) *****
This is one blues album hell-bent on showing you a good time. Two Trains, the latest from New York’s Dave Keyes is a rollicking good time.
Keyes co-wrote 8 of the 10 tracks on this disc with songwriting partner Mark Sameth, who has also penned hits for Loretta Lynn and Betty LaVette to name just a couple. “I’m especially proud of the collaboration with Mark on this disc” Dave says. “The songs are topical, both on a personal level and world level. There’s something here that everyone can relate to; love, loss, joy and pain and how we deal with it all.” Sounds like righteous blues- you bet it does.
Keyes is a 40 year vet of the blues and roots scenes and you can feel that experience in every note he sings and plays. For much of the last decade, when not doing his own stuff, Dave has also worked with artists like Popa Chubby, Ronnie Spector and Odetta, who welcomed his blend of deep blues, soul and rock & roll. He also has extensive Broadway and TV music credits that include being the conductor for the Broadway run of the Grammy-winning show Smokey Joe’s Café as well as being music director for Rock & Roll Man, a show based on the life of legendary DJ Alan Freed. Those experiences help explain the verve and enthusiasm of Two Trains.
You can’t help but notice this is a disc that comes from the heart. “For me this album is about coming home to my roots and paying tribute to all the styles that have influenced me since I was a kid” says Keyes, “blues, boogie, country blues, urban blues, gospel and some funky stuff, from Ray Charles to Leon Russell and everyone in between. I’m not a purist, but I respect my roots and I stand on the shoulders of those that have gotten me here.”
Too many musicians involved for me to list here but suffice to say they all turned in top notch performances and the album is smartly produced. As far as boogie n blues goes, TwoTtrains is pretty much a perfect record.
HOT TRACKS: What Just Happened, Blues Ain’t Looin’ For You, Boogie Til The Cows Come Home
BE ABOUT IT! Ryan Hartt (Far-Tone Records) ****
This is a tasty new solo record, the first, from this legendary New England-based bluesman. Lively harp playing and a soulful voice make Be About It a swingin’ delight.
Hartt did some time on the west coast blues scene before moving back east to form Ryan Hartt & The Blue Hearts. The band rocked crowds in clubs and at festivals, won awards and accolades, and now Ryan steps out on his own with Be About It. The urban dictionary defines that phrase as “a call to an elevated standard of professionalism and dedication”, and the songs I’m listening to right now certainly support that. Laying down this album as a solo project gave Hartt the freedom to enlist his pick of New England’s top blues players; Nick Toscano on drums, Jeffery Berg and Mike Law on bass, guitar players Nick Adams, Jad Tariq and Tom Ferraro and piano player Brooks Milgate. The band plays together like they’ve been doing it together for a very long time… the playing is tight as it jumps and swings with real spirit.
I enjoy Ryan’s vocals- the overall mix is enthralling- but for me it’s his harp playing that takes center stage on Be About It, almost feeling like a second vocalist as it commands attention with an intriguing mix of material. I don’t know if ‘aggressive’ is the right way to describe it, but it’s certainly forceful and exhuberant. Hartt wrote 5 of these 11 songs, with covers that include a couple of cool surprises; Hawaiian War Chant that was covered by Tommy Dorsey and Ella Fitzgerald; I’m quite familiar with the melody, but the light, upbeat attitude of this version is unexpected and refreshing. The other tune to mention is the classic ballad You Belong To Me.
Top to bottom Be About It is one of those albums that delights at every turn as he and his guys play with joyful precision. This one is very much worth checking out.
HOT TRACKS: That’s Right You’re Wrong, All Night Long, Hawaiian War Chant
KICK MOVE SHAKE Andrew Leahey & The Homestead (INDEPENDENT) ****
This is Leahey’s 5th album, hailed as “the most eclectic and pop-friendly record of his career, heavily informed by the 1980’s soundtrack of his youth.” If that description piques your interest, Kick Move Shake is most certainly in your wheelhouse.
I’m a self-confessed rock and blues guy but it’s fair to say I’m also a sucker for a good pop song, and that’s where Andrew Leahey comes in. As much as I decry modern and synthetic production techniques sometimes that just works like a hot-damn, as it does with KMS. The stacked vocal harmonies and catchy-as-hell pop melodies using synthesizers and, I’m guessing drum machines, have a way of staying with you. Rolling Stone calls the album “a celebratory mix of sharp storytelling and fist-pumping rock & roll swagger… for fans of Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen”. Looks like they got it right in this case.
KMS was written during a year that saw Leahey losing his mother to Alzhemer’s, playing to sold-out crowds on Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Music Festival tour as well as hitting the road with The Homestead amongst other musical activities. Don’t let the shiny, effervescent pop melodies throw you off track, these songs are coming from a pretty deep place. The press info states that this disc is “for fans of The 1975, The Cars, Don Henley’s Boys of Sumer. The Band Camino and INXS, so consider that info while you contemplate getting your hands on this.
I’m a sucker for catchy pop melodies and though the sound of KMS is quite synthetic, that curiously isn’t bothering me- go figure. Great? Not sure I’d go that far, but niogh on irresistible? A case could certainly be made for that. I’ll definitely be getting a few more spins out of Kick Move Shake..
HOT TRACKS: Sleepwalking The Ceiling, Lady Luck, Time Ran Out
