Roll Away (Like a Stone), Butch Walker (from the Ruby Red Recordings release Butch Walker as… Glenn)
Butch Walker’s latest is something of a concept album, but not in the traditional sense. It portrays an artist playing a club show, complete with an emcee introduction, a simulated bar fight, and calls for an encore. Yet those flourishes do nothing to distract from Walker’s memorable songs.
The collection pays homage to 1970’s soft rock, yet with a style that is distinctly Walker. “Roll Away (Like a Stone)” is classic Jackson Browne (think “Running on Empty”) while “Holy Water Hangover” somehow blends Billy Joel-esque piano stylings with a bit of glam rock.
“Slow Leak” has a bit of Steely Dan vibe as Walker chronicles the slow demise of a relationship. “State-Line Fireworks”, featuring Merry Clayton, has the kind of sing-along chorus that make you want to throw your arms in the air and move with a gentle sway.
“Tell Me I’m Pretty (Bethamphetamine Pt 2)”, a companion to Walker’s 2006 gem “Bethamphetamine (Pretty Pretty)”, is rousing anthem that replaces the bombastic guitars of the latter with a potent combination of piano and guitar.
“Don’t Let It Weigh Heavy On Your Heart”, Walker’s duet with Elizabeth Cook, is a simple yet moving piano ballad in the “Bridge Over Troubled Water” tradition.
When your ship will not carry
And it feels like the weather
Won’t turn for the better
And the sails come apart
If the waters are blurry
Let me be your anchor
And don’t let it weigh heavy
On your heart
While Walker may have set aside his guitar for piano, the pop charm of his songwriting is as strong as ever.
Chuck Will’s Widow, Amy Ray (from the Daemon Records release If It All Goes South)
If It All Goes South is, well, a southern album. Amy Ray takes the listener on a musical tour of the region, from the southern rock moments of “They Won’t Have Me” to the gospel-tinged “North Star” to the New Orleans-flavored “Cowboys and Pirates”.
The constant is the power and beauty of Ray’s songwriting. As she has done throughout her career, her songs are filled with intent and meaning. “Even a sad song is better than no song at all,” she sings at the open of the front porch folk of “Chuck Will’s Widow”. She later opines on the quest for contentment with “Muscadine”, singing “I wanna be grateful for what is mine and when it’s not, be satisfied.”
Ray explores her relationship with religion on the bluegrass “A Mighty Thing” and pays tribute to NYC and the late influential music radio programmer Rita Houston on the melancholy rocker “Subway”.
The album features an incredible list of musical guests, including Brandi Carlile, Allison Russell, Allison Brown, and I’m With Her (Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’ Donovan and Sara Watkins) to name just a few. Their contributions are wonderful but, more importantly, are a testament to the impact that Ray has had on so many musicians.
Birmingham, Will Hoge (from the EDLO Records/Soundly Music Wings on My Shoes)
Will Hoge has a lot on his mind. As anyone who follows him on social media can attest, he is troubled by the state of the world and doesn’t shy away from sharing his feelings. Those concerns make their way into the songs on Wings on My Shoes.
“Ain’t How It Used To Be” opens the album with a lament on gentrification, with Hoge decrying:
Dotson’s used to serve fried chicken right here
Now it’s called Malone’s and sells wax for your beard
That place has Vespas instead of John Deeres
Man, that ain’t how it used to be
“All I Can Take” is a furious rocker that chronicles some characters resigned to working paycheck to paycheck as Hoge wails that he’s, “had about all that he can take.” “Whose God Is This” is a satirical -and somewhat comical – reflection on politics and religion.
Yet Hoge also offers up some mostly happy – and rocking – love songs. “You Are the Place” captures a man who travels around the world only to realize that happiness is best found at home with his true love.
“John Prine’s Cadillac” is a somewhat unabashed love song as Hoge declares “If I try to sing them lovesick blues everybody’ll know that I’m a liar,” before adding, “’Cause I’m smilin’ like a sinner on a month without Sundays, I guess I’m pretty alright.”
“Last One to Go” is a rather dark love song, the singer hoping that he outlives his loved one so that she is not left alone. “I’d rather be the one that’s cryin’,” he sings, “I’d rather be the one that rides in that long black limousine with half of a love inside.”
Days Grow Longer, Dead Horses (from the self-released Brady Street)
Wisconsin duo Dead Horses take listeners on a musical, or more specifically lyrical, exploration on their latest indie folk release. “Is life real or illusion,” ponders singer-songwriter Sarah Vos on “OK Kid” later asking “Is life as fragile as it seems?” on “Under Grey Skies”. While she doesn’t always arrive at any answers, the songs are thoughtful in their depth and consideration.
Part of the album’s strength is Vos’ fearlessness as a writer, one who isn’t afraid to speak her mind. The title track is a fine illustration:
Cognitive dissonance
Rich kid libertarian
We’re polarizing everything
I want something simple
Dull and uneventful
No I don’t need no rock and roll
Just a good book or two
Something to put my mind to
And a few sweet laughs with you
The group ends the collection on an upbeat note, well musically at least, with “Days Grow Longer”. The song is something of an artist’s pandemic anthem, with Vos reflecting on how much she misses time spent on the road but not falling prey to its romanticism.
St. Teresa, Futurebirds (from the No Coincidence Records Bloomin’ Too)
Futurebirds are back with the latest installment of their fruitful collaboration with My Morning Jacket’s Carl Broemel. The relaxed “Buffet Days” musically opens the EP with its lyrical look back at an earlier time of life and raising questions about whether it is really unwarranted nostalgia. The idea that current times may not – or at least don’t have to – be as bad as they seem, continues on the spirited “Sinz & Frenz”. The “roll with the punches” attitude becomes clear as they sing, “What makes you humble sets you free, sometimes you can mess everything up and still come out clean.”
“Easier Said” and “St. Teresa” musically have a hint of beach flair to accompany their uplifting lyrical sentiment. The former urges pushing through adversity (“Try to have some fun, I know sometimes it’s easier said than it’s done”) while the latter takes a more feisty approach, counseling, “You can’t buy love and you can’t spend worry.”
Who’s Gonna Love You, Dirty Streets (from the Blue Elan Records release Who’s Gonna Love You)
I love that Memphis-based Dirty Streets recorded their latest album at the legendary Sam Phillips Recording Studio in their hometown. Not because their music hearkens back to the days of Carl Perkins and Elvis, but rather that it shows that they appreciate the storied history of rock and roll. In their case, they hearken back to the classic rock 1970’s, filling their latest album with plenty of gritty blues-based guitar propelled by bombastic rhythms. The album’s title track is just a taste of the rock and roll fury to be found on Who’s Gonna Love You.
Everything Has Your Memory, Wade Bowen (from the Thirty Tigers release Somewhere Between the Secret and the Truth)
Texas country singer Bowen returns with an album that looks at heartache and break-ups from a multitude of angles. “Everything Has Your Memory” has an easy-going musical vibe even as Bowen can’t escape thoughts of a love long lost. The sentiment becomes even more difficult to avoid on “Burnin’ Both Ends of the Bar”, where he finds himself in the same bar as his ex and her fiance, reflecting “Yeah, if they die at all; Old flames, they sure die hard.”
He approaches a break-up with a sense of resignation on the easy-going “If You Don’t Miss Me”, saying “Last thing I want is to watch you leave, but if that’s what you need…” before adding “It ain’t worth the fight if you don’t miss me when you’re gone.”
“Say Goodbye” chronicles the long decline of a failing relationship while “Knowing Me Like I Do” captures the ending moment and its immediate aftermath as Bowen counsels “If you wanna leave, do what you need to do”.
Of course many a break-up leads to a night of excess in hopes of escaping the heartache. Bowen describes the situation in the rollicking “Honky Tonk Roll”, singing:
I got a jackhammer in my head
I got my boots on in my bed
Been burnin’ both ends of the bar
With a busted-up heart
And a memory I just can’t forget
Somewhere Between the Secret and the Truth is fine Texas country from start to finish.
There Goes a Brooklyn Girl, Freedy Johnston (from the Forty Below Records release Back on the Road to You)
Freedy Johnston is the consummate pop craftsman. His latest is filled with taut gems whose refined urgency and grit gives them a decidedly urban sensibility. Johnston uses simple language to make the lyrics immediately accessible yet he does so without compromising the complexity of his tales. Then he sets them to jangly melodies that are irresistable.
Coping with loss is a recurring theme on Back on the Road to You, from the deceivingly dark “Darlin’” to the closing “The I Really Miss You Blues”. Which doesn’t mean that Johnston is always serious, a point he demonstrates on the sorta love song “There Goes a Brooklyn Girl” as he sings, “I just told her that’s she’s my number one, and she went ‘maybe’”.
Hold Me Back, The Dales (from the DB Records release Multi Trick Pony)
Los Angeles combo The Dales marry catchy melodies with stellar vocal harmonies to create pop perfection. The songs are somewhat eclectic in a fun way, blending in everything from cosmic country (“Stay“) to soul (“Glass Wall“) to straight forward rock (“Hold Me Back”). The album also includes a spectacular stripped down and harmony drenched version of “Jar of Hearts”, a song co-written by band member Drew Lawrence with Christina Perri, whose version became a major pop hit.
The One True Thing, DB Edmunds (from the self-released Life’s Wild Ride)
Fall may be here but it’s never too late for one more summer song… DB Edmunds has been kicking around the Chapel Hill, NC music scene for quite some time but finally steps out on his own with his debut solo release. While only six tracks, it’s an expansive take on power pop – stretching from the opening sunshine rocker “Side By Side” to the Paul Weller vibe of “Higher Ground” to the closing Big Star-esque ballad “You and I”. Of course, it’s the rollicking “The One True Thing”, with its glorious horns, that shines the brightest to these ears.
About the author: Mild-mannered corporate executive by day, excitable Twangville denizen by night.