By My Lonesome, GA-20 (from the album Karma Chief Records release Live in Loveland)
Just Because, GA-20 (from the Karma Chief Records release Crackdown)
Blues band GA-20 have emerged from the pandemic with a vengeance. Their non-stop touring aside, they are releasing their second album in seven months. Both are tremendous showcases for the group’s fiery blues mixed with some vintage rock and roll.
First up was Crackdown, their late 2022 studio outing. The album kicks off with the rollicking “Fairweather Friend”, a rather happy-go-lucky tell-off song. The percussive “Double Gettin’” rollicks with an amped up Peter Gunn theme vibe while “I Let Someone In” and “Gone For Good” are just bad-ass blues.
They cool things down a bit with “Dry Run” and “Just Because”, both of which have a sashaying blend of blues and soul that hearkens back to the early days of rock and roll. The songs shine like beacon calls to lure people onto juke joint dance floors (or your local rock club, which they’ll undoubtedly be visiting).
And about their live performances… the follow-up to Crackdown is Live in Loveland, an album that captures the band in all their raucous glory. The show leans heavily on tracks from Crackdown but also features songs from their 2019 debut Lonely Soul plus a trio of previously unrecorded tracks. In some ways, these live performances are similar to the album recordings, a testament to the raw power and authenticity that the trio achieve in the studio. But like the amplifiers in Spinal Tap, they turn it up to 11 when in front of an audience.
Fuel for the Fire, Mark Erelli (from the Soundly Music release Lay Your Darkness Down)
Mark Erelli sets the tone of his latest release early with these beginning lines from opening track “Break in the Clouds”:
Troubled minds can’t last forever
Troubled times just got to give
If we’re to survive it’ll be together
Alone ain’t no way to live
The album was born of Erelli coming to grips with a degenerative eye disease, diagnosed in 2020. Like any masterful songwriter, he transformed the experience into a thoughtful, compelling, and rather uplifting collection of songs. “Fuel for the Fire”, for example, is a message of encouragement, as Erelli counsels:
Can’t make a mistake disappear
No matter how you try
Don’t let go of your fear
You can’t live in fear
But you can use it as…
Fuel for the fire, Fuel for the fire
That sentiment of turning adversity into empowerment permeates Lay Your Darkness Down. On the freewheeling “Love Wins in the Long Run” he reminds, “If you keep the faith with a little grace, maybe not today, but it finds a way…”.
He shares a pair of moving love songs in the form of “The Man That I Am” and “You’re Gonna Wanna Remember This”. The former acknowledges how his partner has shaped and supported him while the latter reflects on the passage of time and the need to savor shared moments.
“Lay Your Darkness Down”, co-written and featuring long-time collaborator Lori McKenna, is an emotional tribute to the late Justin Townes Earle.
Towns can be rebuilt
but some holes just can’t be filled
and hope is in the heart of the beholder
So I’ll remember you I guess
at your kindest, at your best
and pray you shed the weight upon your shoulders
Musically Lay Your Darkness Down is a catchy pop record through and through. Erelli has a captivating sense of melody and is a masterful songwriter. He calls on an impressive collection of mostly New England musicians to support the cause, including bassist Zachariah Hickman and drummer Dave Brophy as well as appearances by the aforementioned McKenna, Nashville’s Anthony DaCosta on guitar, and Erelli’s Barnstar! bandmate Charlie Rose on pedal steel. Put it all together and Lay Your Darkness Down is another gem in the Erelli catalog.
(Breaking Up With) My Hometown, Ward Hayden & the Outliers (from the Faster Horses Recordings release South Shore)
South Shore is a return to roots for Ward Hayden, both figuratively and literally. The album was recorded in the same studio where he recorded his first few albums and features the more rootsy sound of that era. Even the subject matter treads familiar ground: reflections on small hometowns and family life.
In Hayden’s case, it is a small waterfront town outside Boston where he was raised and to which he returned, about which he sings on the title track:
And I left home for awhile to see where I belonged
I searched high and low for a place to call home, but it all felt wrong
And people say “You can never go home”, but I like to think that ain’t so
‘cause if it is I’ve got nowhere to go
As that lyric suggests, there is a lot of contemplation on South Shore. “Blink of an Eye” chronicles the passage of time from school days to adulthood, with a disheartened view of life in the working world. “Things These Days” finds the singer feeling anchorless as he considers life choices and dreams.
Several of the songs reflect on family life. “Hush” is about raising a young daughter, sharing some fatherly perspective and hopes for her life. “There’s a flaw in every diamond, a cloud in every sky,” he sings, “spread your wings my baby bird, fly my darlin’ fly.” The closing “Great Unknown” is a tender string-laden ode to his wife with some life advice for the listener added for good measure. “Try to be thankful and don’t be an asshole,” he declares, “sit on the couch and smoke pot.” Sage wisdom, indeed.
Hayden doesn’t fully ignore the social and political commentary that have been the focus of the group’s past few albums. The restrained “I Can’t Wake Up” contemplates the war in Ukraine with Hayden proclaiming, “I don’t need Brian Williams to know that something is wrong”. “Get the Gasoline” is relatively restrained musically with its piano and strings accompaniment, yet it finds the singer exhorting:
Now I think some people think too much
While other people aren’t thinking enough
It does no good to kick and scream
Give that fire some gasoline
Musically, Hayden and the Outliers move away from the more electric guitar-fueled rock of their recent work. One can hear echoes of Hank Williams, of whom Hayden is noted fan, in the stripped down and country-leaning sound of South Shore. It’s the kind of record that I suspect that ol’ Hank would enjoy.
Further On, Jabe Beyer (from Further On: The Songs of Billy Conway)
If ever there was an album that was a labor of love, this would be it. Further On is a tribute to the late Billy Conway, a mainstay on the New England music scene who played drums with, among others, Morphine, Treat Her Right, Jeffrey Foucault, and Chris Smither. Lesser known, however, was that Conway was also a songwriter.
A few months after he passed, his wife and fellow musician Laurie Sargent invited a group of Conway’s friends and musical compatriots to New Hampshire. There, in a makeshift studio, they channeled their grief and celebrated his legacy by recording a collection of his songs.
Songs like “Love Ain’t Around” and “Come With Me”, sung by Jeffrey Foucault and Kris Delmhorst respectively, both flow with a relaxed R&B vibe. Chris Smither brings his blend of acoustic folk and blues to “Outside Inside” and “If I Had a Dollar” while Laurie Sargent infuses a brooding Tom Waits flair to “I Feel You Moving” and “Like Annette”.
Jabe Beyer leads the group on a pair of songs that capture the beauty and spirit of the tribute. “I’ve said it before I’ll say it again, I quit keeping score, I’ll just count on my friends” he sings on “Quit Keeping Score”.
Beyer and company close the album with the warm and tender title track.
I’m gonna go now
Some place I don’t know how
No shadow cast I guess I’ll disappear
But it helps if you know
The river will flow further on
A little further on
A little further on
Further On: The Songs of Billy Conway is both thoughtful and magical, no doubt a testament to the man that it honors.
Drive, Drive, Drive, Jake Swamp and the Pine (from the self-released Simpson & Banks)
First things first – there’s no one named Jake in the band. In point of fact, Jake Swamp and the Pine is the nom de plume of Drew Zieff, self-described as “One dude. One beard. Six strings.” Which isn’t to say that Simpson & Banks is truly a solo effort as Zieff recruited members of New England mainstays Darlingside and the Adam Ezra Group to join him on the album. Yet they are solely there to bring Zieff’s songs to life.
Zieff has a big voice that rides high over the rootsy and often airy arrangements. The songs themselves flow with a mix of hope and wanderlust. “With my foot on the gas and not knowing where I’ll arrive, all I’m gonna do is drive, drive, drive,” he sings in the album opener. An electric piano teases an R&B intro to “Go By Darkness” before veering into Americana territory, with Zieff declaring:
So run run, as fast as we can
We’ll go by darkness baby, take my hand
Hop the freight
We’ll be there by sunlight
If we hurry up now we won’t lose to the clock
It’s like key to an unknown lock
Where all we have to do is not turn around
His pop sensibility shines bright on songs like the jammy “Cigarettes and Coffee” and the rootsy anthem “Empty Stomachs and Bloodshot Eyes”, not to mention the folky “Moving Day” (his fun ode to Boston apartment moves).
Simpson & Banks is a warm and enjoyable listen, with or without any Jakes.
No Fun, Prateek (from the self-released ‘Til June)
Prateek takes the listener on quite a musical tour with his latest album. ‘Til June is a potent combination of intelligent storytelling and an eclectic musical palette. He sets a dark and gritty tone at the start, channeling Tom Waits on the bluesy “Diamonds”. “’Cause stars ain’t diamonds, rain ain’t tears,” he growls, “and love don’t last a thousand years”.
From there he effortlessly shifts into the catchy pop of “The Gang’s All Gone”. The song’s lyrics stand somewhat in contrast to the upbeat melody, telling the tale of someone stuck in the partying lifestyle long past when they should.
And where does he go from there? Into the horn-fueled R&B of “You’re Still On My Mind”, a saga of a lamented, lost love. It is followed by “If You Want a Man”, which offers a sharp lyrical counterpoint in the form of a honky-tonk ramble:
If you want a man to love you, find a lover
If you want a man to please you, find a bar
But if you want a man to tell you
That you did nothing wrong
Honey just move along
Prateek isn’t afraid to dig into his own life story. He shares some of his life experiences on the gentle “Wrong”, which explores racism that he’s encountered in his life, and the raucous “No Fun”, the story of his decision to give up alcohol. Both are wonderful showcases of the fearlessness, both lyrically and musically, that Prateek demonstrates on ‘Til June.
4×4, Matt Charette (from the self-released Lo-Fi High Hopes)
There’s a long and notable history of punk rockers gravitating towards roots and Americana. It really shouldn’t be a surprise as the genres, done well, share an authenticity of character and emotion. And Matt Charette does it well on his latest release.
True to the punk rock ethic, the songs often have a blue collar spirit infused with an “us against the world” attitude. They are brought to life in gritty arrangements, with Charette’s acoustic guitar offset by emphatic bass and drums.
“4×4” is an ode to the hard livin’ touring life as Charette sings, “I got a two pack a day habit, one step away from a DUI, I won’t see you in church on Sunday but I’ll see you at the bar on a Saturday night”. Pedal steel, piano, and organ give extra weight to “Anywhere”, a song that finds him pining for a distant, and perhaps lost, lover.
Charette takes a fatalistic view of the world today on “Wrecking Ball”, which is followed by “Swinging”, his anthem about fighting back. He closes the album with “How It’s Gonna End”, a tale of fading romance made even more enthralling by the strings that join in and close out the song.
Lila Page 8, The Remittance Men (from the self-released Scoundrels, Dreamers & Second Sons)
I love musical surprises and my introduction Boston’s The Remittance Men has been a wonderous one. The group isn’t a band as much as it is a collective that happens to contain some of Boston’s finest musicians. They gathered together to bring to life the songs of singer-songwriter Tom Robertson.
Although not all of the songs are based in New England, they capture rural New England at its core. Tales of farmers and merchant marines, blue collar people focused on perseverance with a dogged, if not always successful, pursuit of happiness and contentment. Robertson tells the stories with an eye for detail and a style that calls to mind Thoreau or Emerson. “You go on about sticks and stones but names really break your bones, so turn and walk away from the rumors of yesterday,” he sings on “Avery Hill”.
There’s a regal quality to the music; a subtlety that compliments the lyrics. The musicianship – from Joe Kessler’s fiddle to James Rohr’s piano to Andy Santospago’s pedal steel, to name just a few – conjures up images of The Band if they had been reared in New England. As a testament to the group’s talent, they magnificently breath some New England air into a cover of Tom Petty’s “Down South”. More to the point, the song fits in brilliantly alongside Robertson’s originals. Put it all together and Scoundrels, Dreamers & Second Sons is a masterful marriage of songwriting and performance.
Ingenue, The Shang Hi Los (from the Rum Bar Records release Aces Eights & Heartbreaks)
There are serious 1980’s power pop vibes coursing through Aces Eights & Heartbreaks. The songwriting duo of Boston mainstays Jen D’Angora (the Dents, the Downbeat 5 and Jenny Dee & The Deelinquents) and Dan Kopko (Watts) join forces to provide a survey of the era. Things kick off, as they should, with the Cheap Trick crunch of opener “Takes One to Know One”. Guitars reminiscent of Rick Springfield power “These Four Walls” while the group brings an ELO flair to the title track. They visit the New York City scene with a blast of late era Ramones style pop in the form of “Plymouth Rock” and call to mind Blondie with the closing “Ingenue.” What makes the album so special, however, is the energy and quality songwriting that D’Angora and Kopko bring to the collection. Quite simply, it – and they – rock.
Green, Audrey Bussanich (from the self-released Go For a Drive Live Sessions)
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to learn that Audrey Bussanich is a classically-trained musician. One can hear it in the genteel beauty of her songwriting. Her latest EP features live in-studio performances of the songs from her 2022 release Go For a Drive. The arrangements are sublime, centered around a cascading piano and Bussanich’s voice. The songs themselves follow the arc of a relationship, from the hopeful beginnings – “I think there’s something out there for you and me, and if I had it my way we wouldn’t do this halfway,” she sings on the title track – to a painful conclusion on closer “Walking Away”, as she reflects “sometimes loving someone means walking away”.
About the author: Mild-mannered corporate executive by day, excitable Twangville denizen by night.