Lay By Your Side, Christopher Paul Stelling (from the self-released Forgotten but Not Gone and Few and Far Between)
I’ve never been through a divorce but, listening to Christopher Paul Stelling’s new Forgotten but Not Gone and Few and Far Between, I have greater insight into the explosion of emotions that occur. Stelling has long worn his heart on his sleeve, infusing his music with tremendous passion and sentiment. Focusing that attention on his own divorce makes it all the more intense and, in its own way, strikingly beautiful.
He opens with the reassuring “Better Days”. “If we ever go our separate ways, remember the good please, remember the good,” he sings, “If you ever want to search for better days, I think you should.”
From there, he journeys through a full range of emotions. The stark “One More Chance” lays the heartbreak bare. “On our wedding day you made me the happiest man alive,” he confides, “the day you left it took all I had not to kiss the world goodbye.” He then makes a heartbreaking plea, “I’m only asking you for one more chance”.
The quiet, acoustic “This Reckoning” explores the path to the momentous decision. “This reckoning it is your right but you’ve long since lost your will to fight,” he confesses. It is followed by the somber piano ballad “Love Is Letting Go”, which captures a moment of resignation:
Who am I to say what love is, love is letting go.
Who are you now that we’ve parted, I hope some day you let me know
There’s a beauty in second chances. To learn is to live, to live is to grow.
But who am I to say what love is, maybe love is letting go.
Which isn’t to say that the album is all fragile and introspective. Several songs, like “Lay By Your Side” and “Curtain Call”, start with restraint but steadily grow towards raw and cathartic full band conclusions. The bluesy rocker “Double Crossed” finds him taking his former partner to task, chiding “how dare you offer a drowning man water when you know damn well he’s not dying of thirst.”
Forgotten but Not Gone and Few and Far Between is more than a showcase of Stelling’s talent as a songwriter and performer, it’s an album that, despite its dark and dramatic theme, rewards with its artistic magnificence.
Medicine Man, Sam Morrow (from the Copaco/Blue Elan Records release On the Ride Here)
Sam Morrow has the southern boogie in him. His latest album rolls as much as it rocks, oozing swagger from every rhythm-fueled guitar riff. With touchstones ranging from Little Feat to Robert Palmer to the Allman Brothers, On the Ride Here is a musical tour through the funky side of southern rock.
“Tighter” may open with a classic ZZ Top guitar lick but moves immediately into Little Feat territory. The laid-back but insistent groove of that song is a recurring theme across the album, fueling other stand-outs like “Saint Peter” and slide guitar-driven “Medicine Man”.
He brings Robert Palmer into the mix with “Searching For Paradise” and “Straight and Narrow”. The former, with organ and electric piano slithering in-between chugging electric guitars, calls to mind Palmer’s classic “Sneaking Sally Through the Alley” while the latter struts through its verses to get to a soulful chorus.
Morrow gets down and dirty on songs like “More”, “Thunderbird Motel”, and “Hired Gun”. Electric guitar power chords power each of them, with Morrow unleashing the growl in his voice.
Never been to a Southern roadhouse? Don’t worry, give this album a spin and let Morrow bring it to you.
Better By Now, Heather Little (from the Need to Know Music release By Now)
It shouldn’t be a surprise to learn that Heather Little is from Texas. A rootsy sound and lyrical storytelling are hallmarks of the state’s great songwriters, and one listen to Little’s By Now shows that she fits well in that tradition.
Little’s songs exude emotion, from the ferociousness of “Gunpower & Lead” (co-written with Miranda Lambert, whose recording was a Lambert top 10 single in 2008) to the emotional turmoil of “Landfall” (“I’ll know by the chaos in my chest and the peace in the eye, our storm is making landfall tonight.”)
Most notable among the collection is the resonant heartbreak of “Better By Now”. Little admits “I’ve wasted a lot of love being wrong, I learn to late and I stay too long” before declaring:
And I oughta be better by now
But I got mixed up with you somehow
Oughta be better by now
There’s nine roads in
One way out
I oughta be better by now
The musicians and guests on By Now are a testament to the Little’s talent. These include guitarists Audley Freed, Kevin Barry, and Duke Levine and vocalists Patty Griffin, Crystal Bowersox, and Van Plating. With songs as good as Little’s are, it’s no surprise that they wanted to lend their support.
Empty Space, Liz Brasher (from the Blue Elan Records release Baby Damn)
Perhaps not suprisingly, Liz Brasher’s sound has evolved as she relocated from Memphis to Los Angeles. While the blend of r&B and soulful rock still underpins her music, it now has a West Coast sheen. Wisps of 1960’s soulful pop permeate the album, most notably on songs like “Room to Ride” and the bass heavy groove of “When I Stand” and “Pieces”. Titles like “Broken Again” and “Empty Space” give clear indication of the heartache found within Baby Damn. Brasher sings on the latter:
All of the plans that we made never happened
But at least you left me with something to say
I can’t fill your empty space
I can’t fill your empty space
Memphis, LA, or parts in-between, Brasher continues to impress with its soulfulness.
Rotations, Adeem the Artist (from the Four Quarters Records/Thirty Tigers release Anniversary)
Adeem the Artist has never been one to shy from exploring self and society with candor and thoughtfulness. In that vein, Anniversary picks up exactly where the previous White Trash Revelry left off.
While Adeem’s strong social and political commentary remain potent, most notably on the biting “Nightmare” and explosive “Plot of Land”, it’s the more personal songs that are the most powerful on Anniversary. “Wounded Astronaut”, for example, is a humbling coming to terms with a painful past, the singer admitting “I’ve got a highlight reel of all the times I made somebody cry” and then continuing:
Were that when I was younger
I could’ve put to use my wonder
To imagine better ways a healthy partner is d?fined
Oh the women I hav? loved and the wounds I left behind
The even more starkly beautiful ballad “Rotations” reflects on parenthood and the passage of time, asking “How many rotations am I gonna get with you?”. The song concludes in stunning fashion, somber and heartfelt:
And I know that you are not me
I would never ask you to be
You are more than I could honestly ever have expected to be true
But when I’m gone, you’ll carry on
& carry all that there is left of me with you
Yet Anniversary is not all heavy reflection. Don’t miss the brilliant New Orleans jazz vibe of “Socialite Blues”, with its spoken lyrics backed by a glorious horn and woodwind cacophony as Adeem sings, “Honey, I’m gonna sit here till the break of dawn making out of tune songs with you.”
Tennessee Road, Wesley Dean (from the self-released Music From Crazy Hearts)
America has a lot of stories and Australian artist Wesley Dean set out to find them. He and his family piled into an RV and travelled from his adopted home of Nashville to LA. They undoubtedly took the back roads, steeping themselves in the stories and culture of the towns they encountered along the way. And, all the better for us, Dean brought the experience to life on the songs that make up Music From Crazy Hearts.
“Mercy” sets a tone with strings and a gospel chorus wrapped around a brooding country song. The song, and those that follow, would fit right in as the soundtrack of the 1969 classic movie “Midnight Cowboy”.
“Southern Man”, not to be confused with the Neil Young song with the same name, perhaps ironically calls to mind Lynyrd Skynyrd with Charlie Daniels sitting in on fiddle. “Gunslinger” has exactly the biting electric guitars that the song title suggests while “Doorways”, with its choral and string flourishes, brings a hint of 1970’s disco to its otherwise Americana vibe.
The album centerpiece is “Tennessee Road”. A gospel intro gives way to a raucous song that conjures up images of ignoring speed limit signs as one cruises down a rural highway with the rag top down. Music From Crazy Hearts is high energy and made for your summer soundtrack.
Another Broken Heart, Wonder Women of Country (from the Bismeaux Records release Wonder Women of Country: Willis, Carper, Leigh)
The band name just about says it all. Kelly Willis, Melissa Carper, and Brennen Leigh – each tremendous talents in their own rites – join forces to create a six song country gem. Each of the artists contributed songs (with two Carper/Leigh co-writes) but it’s the sum of the parts that makes the collection so special. Their vocal blend beautifully and the songs are intoxicating country to their core.
The Other Side, Will Kimbrough (from the Soundly Music release For the Life of Me)
Will Kimbrough has a way with song. His latest album finds him taking stock of recent times, from the pandemic to the political and social strife of the past several years. You know, lighter fare. Yet, Kimbrough being Kimbrough, he does so with a tremendous – and catchy – sense of melody and varying levels of hopefulness.
He sets the tone right from the start with “Walking in the Valley of the Shadow”, which explores the migrant crisis with a musical nod to the Band’s “The Weight” or “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”.
The jangly guitars and hook of “The Other Side” do little to mask the angst of the lyrics as Kimbrough pleas for compassion. “Where did our love go, what ever happened to empathy,” he asks, “why hurt each other so, even the devil has some sympathy”.
That theme of seeking kindness and understanding continues on the acoustic folk song “For the Life of Me”. “Now I greet each new sunrise delightedly while you look your nose ever spitefully,” he considers before continuing:
You see blue and I see black it’s empathy we lack and claim to want
While the history we seem doomed to repeat is here to terrify and haunt.
Trying times are often when we need our artists most, as Will Kimbrough’s For the Life of Me wonderfully reminds us.
Rather Be Right, The Coal Men (from the Vaskaleedez Records release Everett)
There’s something about that Memphis rock and roll. It’s got swagger and soul and, in the case of The Coal Men, plenty of grit. The group comes out of the gate strong with “Black Cat” which has, well, plenty of bite. It’s followed by “Radio Bell”, a rhythm heavy ballad which gives way to “Rather Be Right”, a guitar-heavy 1960’s rock dance hall throwback. guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Dave Coleman, a go-to producer, gives the songs extra punch – the guitars bristle and the rhythm section rumbles.
I Love You, Suzanne, The Afghan Whigs (from the Light in the Attic release The Power of the Heart: A Tribute to Lou Reed)
Lou Reed was an American original. A New Yorker through and through, his songs captured the grittiness of his home town. And that acerbity is found throughout this impressive tribute.
The stand-out performances, not surprisingly, are from artists who put their own spin on the songs. Rickie Lee Jones brings a bohemian vibe to “Walk on the Wild Side” while The Afghan Whigs add their own brooding rock touch to “I Love You, Suzanne”.
Yet even those that steer closer to the original versions still showcase the richness and character of Reed’s songwriting. Bobby Rush brings his tremendous blues and R&B credibility to “Sally Can’t Dance” while Mary Gauthier spoken word style fits perfectly with “Coney Island Baby”. And then there’s Keith Richard’s gritty and greasy “I’m Waiting for my Man” and Joan Jett’s fiesty “I’m So Free”. All come together to wonderfully celebrate Reed’s illustrious songwriting career.
Bring It to Me, Molly Stevens (from the self-released A Drive Out to the Lake)
Macon, Georgia has a storied musical history and one can hear echoes of it in Macon native Molly Steven’s new EP. It starts with her Southern drawl, subtle yet striking. As for the songs, EP book-ends “Twin Flame” and “Temporary High” both have a forlorn Georgia mountain air ripe for a while “Bring It To Me” has a bluesy Southern R&B groove that recalls Macon’s most famous band of brothers (as in Allman). The EP may only be four songs, all the better to leave one craving more.
About the author: Mild-mannered corporate executive by day, excitable Twangville denizen by night.