(independent) ****+
An interesting Lo Fi country journey from Geminidragon’s guitarist. Burn was previously released but, thanks to our ol’ pal the pandemic, was given short shrift when it came to promotion in terms of touring and other avenues of promotion. The disc has come around again and I’m sure glad it has. Experimenting with the edges of what Nashville calls country music, Simeon’s work sports minimal arrangements over seductive grooves.
“I am a huge fan of what I call fringe country artists like Steve Earle, Robert Earl Keen and modern guys like Koe Wetzel” says the New Orleans songwriter. The kind of music we hear on Burn carries the same genes as its older cousin Lo-Fi Hip-Hop, with beats and minimalist instrumentation that is downright hypnotic.
I was expecting the blues here as Christian also plays guitar for his wife Geminidragon, but am pleasantly surprised that he can make a left turn into this subgenre. This is his own artistic vision apart from that, a group of songs done totally his way. “I’m just doing what I like to do” Christian says, “and if it just so happens to have as many sights as country nuances, I’m more than OK with that.” Burn is proof that country and hip-hop can co-exist, with a side of blues.
https://www.facebook.com/ChristianSimeonMusic/
HOT TRACKS: Get Gone, Burn, The End
BY SUNRISE Long Prairie (independent) ***
The music of Long Prairie is where country, folk and Americana meet, flavored by bluegrass. By Sunrise, her 4th album, is full of heartland n prairie soul- it’s a charmer.
Born in Minnesota, Long Prairie (Paula Aubert)’s music carries that Little-House-On-The-Prairie vibe when tall grasses covered the state and towns had names like Long Prairie, whose name she chose as her on stage ID. “I just try to keep the music as real and innocent as possible” she says simply as the songs also have the flavor of the Texas Hill country she currently calls home.
By Sunrise has an intimate sound and feel, owing as much to producer Omar Vallejo as it does LP. She sings and plays acoustic guitar, and Vallejo contributes bass, tenor electric guitar, synthesizer and harmonies. Other musicians include Hadyn Vitera (electric fiddle, cello, mandolin, ganjo and piano), Rich Baur (percussion) and her son Saul Aubert serves as recording engineer. With a sound this stark, intimate and personal By Sunrise won’t appeal to everyone, but when you make music from the heart to first please yourself, that will always be the case.
LP says the album’s title is inspired by a favorite Townes Van Zant song I’ll Be Here In The Morning, which I’m now going to have to track down. These ten tracks are personal, romantic, tragic and everything else in between. She’s not a technically gifted singer but if she were, that would ruin the vibe of the record, I think. By Sunrise is just the right company for me when I grab a drink, turn the lights off to stare out the window at night as I think about where I’ve been, where I am, and where I might want to go next… and you can’t put a price on that.
https://www.facebook.com/longprairiemusic/
HOT TRACKS: Seamlessly, Give Thanks, The Roses
KINGDOM COME TJ Wong (Lightning In A Bottle Records) ****+
You talk about places like Chicago and Austin having hot blues scenes, it’s time we throw Portland Oregon on that pile. It’s where 22 year old guitarist TJ Wong comes from and, as Kingdome Come demonstrates, he plays the kind of blues you’d think far beyond his years.
Timothy James Wong, because of his youth, draws comparisons to Jonny Lang and Kenny Wayne Sheperd. That’s also due to his talent as a player and disciplined work ethic. He grew up listening to his father and his friends jam, but it was a single performance at the Mulino Blues Festival that ignited a passion for public performance. He went from strumming along with dad’s band to holding his own for two songs that night, and there was no turning back.
Wong has a powerful yet smooth style as a guitarist and as a singer he recalls Jonny Lang or maybe Colin James. Kingdom Come isn’t down & dirty blues, more of a blend of blues and pop music that would fit right in on your favorite rock station. Though it may not be considered weird enough to be jazz, the instrumental Apple Pie has a distinct Pat Metheny feel to it. From writing to playing, the songs on this record are exceptional… not sure who the producer is here, but they’ve more than earned their keep with a tight, bright yet not overly precious sound.
Blues purists might be tempted to dismiss Kingdom Come as too melodic or pop, but I’m finding the combination of blues muscle and attention to melodic detail damn near irresistible. If TJ Wong is only 22, I gotta say this disc is the beginning of something big… REAL big.
https://www.facebook.com/tjwongtrio/
HOT TRACKS: Your Love, Take Me For A Drive, Apple Pie
BOUNCE, BOOGIE & BUMP CW Ayon (independent) *** ¾
CW Ayon calls New Mexico home, but you can feel the Mississippi hill country in his music. Bounce, Boogie & Bump is clear evidence of his influences; Junior Kimbrough, R.L. Burnside, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters and Robert Belfour. If any of those names tickle your heart, then this is one album that demands your investigation.
Ayon is basically a solo performer, using a simple kick/snare and tambourine setup for the backbone of his tunes, but for B, B & B he enlisted Felipe Toltecatl on upright bass to help fill out his sound a tad. Like Burnside CW Ayon rides the grooves to hypnotic effect, creating a sound that’s deceptively larger than it might seem with a Tulsa vibe. In Blues Blast Magazine, Rhys Williams praises this album as “a mesmerizing sound that touches on rock, hints at soul, and is all blues.” The beats are solid as Ayon picks out some catchy hooks on a variety of guitars; no grandstanding solos on this baby that would betray the minimalist vibe he’s going for.
Bounce, Boogie & Bump, as the title suggests, is by and large the sort of blues that makes people want to dance. As a (mostly) one man band here the percussion is quite simple and I catch myself wondering how this might have turned out if Ayon was playing off of a skilled drummer and an electric bassist instead of trying to handle most of it solo… that might have left him with room to express himself more fully on guitar. Not knocking his approach, just wondering.
The bio I got with Bounce, Boogie & Bump calls it “high desert country blues & boogie” and I suppose that fits as well as any description one might come up with. It’s a solid batch of songs and the musical simplicity can carry you away if you’re not careful- but what’s wrong with that? BBB is almost like a blues history lesson, and I’m digging the way that feels.
HOT TRACKS: Wiggle & Shake, Off The Ground, Bring It Home
MEN FISH BOAT Turkey The Bird (NZ/CH) ****
If you’re up for a refreshing blast of bluegrass with old-timey instrumentation and sweet harmony vocals, let me introduce you to Turkey The Bird- an absurd yet unforgettable name for a band. Men Fish Boat is the latest for this New Zealand/ Swiss folk trio, and their jaunty melodies are a positive feel good time.
Vocally, TTB have much in common with artists like Mumford & Sons or Simon & Garfunkel, and it also sounds like Newfie music too; a light-hearted good time. Acoustic guitar, banjo and elemental percussion (spoons mostly) keep busy under some tasty vocal harmonies, the likes of which you might hear at a house party on Canada’s east coast on any given Friday or Saturday night- it has that kind of jubilation and lift. The band is Andre Manella from Switzerland (guitar, bass, drums), Adrian Whelan from Ireland (guitar, mandolin, bass, spoons) along with token Kiwi Sol Coulton on banjo and slide guitar, and they call New Plymouth in New Zealand home.
Most bluegrass I’m familiar with- and that isn’t much- seems to be banjo-centric, but Men Fish Boat is more reliant on acoustic guitar which I suppose makes it more folky. The harmony singing on a track like You & I is arresting, with deep and rich undertones that recall The Irish Descendants. That guys from Switzerland, Ireland and New Zealand should be so adept at what many consider a quintessential American musical form is an anomaly to be sure, but the stories are engaging and entertaining as in the short but brilliant title cut.
At the end of the day Men Fish Boat is 3 talented musicians and singers having a pile of fun, and this is the kind of party you’ll want to be in on. I had no idea what to expect from a band with a daft name like Turkey The Bird with an oddly titled album like Men Fish Boat, but for the last 35 or so minutes I’ve been having a grand old time.
https://www.facebook.com/TurkeyTheBird/
HOT TRACKS: Smashing Through The Fences, Lady Who, Stone Wall Creek
TRANSMISSIONS Stephen Clair (Independent) ****+
This is Stephen Clair’s 11th album and the 4th one to join my collection. Transmissions is a likeable blend of 60’s British rock & roll (think The Kinks) and 80’s synth pop. There’s a kind of fey innocence to these songs that makes them irresistible.
Transmissions is an album that goes from two chord rockers to Cars-era synth melodies and yet it somehow works. Clair spent two years getting all the right sounds together and getting the instruments to sound just right, then they mixed and mastered the album. But wait, there’s more… another year went by, and they mixed and mastered it a second time. I wonder if a deluxe reissue years from now will include the original mix? Guess we’ll have to wait and see.
What makes Transmissions a pop/rock masterpiece is that, like pretty much everything Stephen Clair writes, the songs are hooky as hell with melodies that more often than not stick after a single pass. Maximum Volume Music calls him “delightfully enchanting” while Performing Songwriter declares him “the kind of troubadour that the roots songwriting world needs these days.” There’s a sense of adventure and bravado in his stuff, and yet I wouldn’t call it weird. Music is his life; he’s been obsessed with music since kindergarten (I know how that feels) which he skipped because he was listening to records with his grandfather. You can feel that obsession and love of music in every detail on the new record.
Transmission is 9 songs that take you by the hand and pull you into Stephen Clair’s world, and you’ll go eagerly. Production by Clair with Will Bryant is brilliant and well balanced, and Clair has a way with words that not many pop songwriters display nowadays. What Maximum Volume Music says about Clair himself also applies to Transmissions: it’s delightfully enchanting.
HOT TRACKS: Naomi’s Phone Is Dead, Take This Walk With Me, Vegas Sunrise
