Click
any of the following or scroll down for comments/mini-review and
links:
Slaid
Cleaves, Holiday Sampler
Dave
Carter and Tracy Grammer, Tanglewood
Tree
Phil
Cody, The Sons of Intemperance
Offering
Rick
Dinsmore and the Donner Party, Survivor
Jason
Eklund, Lost Causeway
Joe
Ely, Live at Antone's
Fiddlers
4
(Michael Doucet,
Darol Anger, Bruce Molsky, Rushad
Eggleston)
Jeffrey
Foucault, Miles from the
Lightning
Kinky
Friedman, Lasso from El
Paso
Kevin
Gordon,
Cadillac Jack's #1
Son
Wayne
Greene, Himself
Merle
Haggard, Roots Vol. 1
Wayne
Hancock, Thunderstorms and Neon
Signs
Highwayman
and Highwayman 2
Doug
Hoekstra, The Past Is Never
Past
Jack
Ingram, Livin' or
Dyin'
Jennings,
Kristoffersen, Nelson, Shaver, Honky Tonk
Heroes
Robert
Earl Keen, Gravitational
Forces
Mike
Marshall and Darol Anger, The Duo Live At Home and on
the Range,
Larry
Mitchell, The Bridge
Gurf
Morlix, Fishin' in the
Muddy
Bill
Morrissey, Something I Saw or Thought
I Saw
Bob
Neuwirth, Havana
Midnight
David
Olney, Women Across the River
Pierce
Pettis, State of Grace
Kelly
Joe Phelps, Sky Like a Broken
Wheel
Josh
Ritter, The Golden Age of
Radio
Darell
Scott, Aloha from
Nashville
Gillian
Welch, Time (The
Revelator)
Various
Artists,
Pearls in the Snow:
The Songs of Kinky Friedman
Various
Artists, Lowdown, Dirty Mississippi Delta
Blues
new/recent
releases
Michael
Doucet, Darol Anger, Bruce Molsky and Rushad
Eggleston,
Fiddlers
4
(Compass, March 12, 2002).
We began featuring this electic,
virtuoso-laden gathering of fiddlers (and a cellist) last week,
and will continue to do so through it's release next week. The
press release from Compass is informative, so we'll give you a
piece of the story straight from them; to continue, simply click
where indicated: Master fiddlers
Michael Doucet, Darol Anger, Bruce Molsky and Rushad Eggleston,
some of today's most celebrated players, will make their Compass
debut on March 12th with the release of the cross-cultural
extravaganza 'Fiddlers 4.' Doucet is well loved for his work as
the leader of Cajun super-group BeauSoleil. Anger, the leading
exponent of jazz-hued newgrass and Molsky, internationally revered
as a leading old time fiddler, come together with newcomer
Eggleston (Anger calls him the Chris Thile of the
Cello...((whoa!)) to offer this collection of tunes with stops in
the Louisiana bayou, the Appalachian mountains and the Marin
foothills. read
entire release, including tour schedule.
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David
Olney, Women Across the River,
SCR (Netherlands) 2002. This is the second album Olney has
recorded live in Holland and released on SCR. Recorded over the
last five years in several intimate venues, Women Across the
River captures this most versatile of artists at the height of
his abilities. . . In "1917," he conjures up the horrors of
Europe's self-destruction in the trenches of World War I with both
eerie precision and epic grandeur. The ironic nostalgia of
"Barrymore Remembers," Olney's bittersweet portrait of the Roaring
Twenties, comes across far better here than it does on the
previous studio versions. The same holds true for his achingly
beautiful love songs, in particular "I'll Fall In Love Again", in
which Olney's superbly economical use of language is perfectly
matched by the understated yet spellbinding intensity of the
performance. The highlight of this truly excellent album, it
should convince every listener that, in Olney's case, even the
most flattering comparisons with fellow singer-songwriters of his
generation are ultimately misleading. This man is in a league of
his own. (Edited from mysongwriters.com; click on pic or title for
full text of comments, and information on how to order this album
both in Europe and in the US). Back
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Gurf
Morlix, Fishin' in the Muddy,
Catamount, Feb 2002. If anybody is still looking for a
candidate to replace Robbie Robertson in the Band, look no
further. Morlix can write, sing, produce, and play nearly every
instrument (mostly stringed) and has a bottomless (albeit muddy)
range of American musical idioms from which to draw. Though Morlix
is most often associated with Lucinda Williams and he's played
with and produced for an amazing number of artists, he's overdue
to be recognized for his own work, including his 1999 debut CD,
Toad of Titicaca, and now Fishin' in the Muddy. He doesn't quite
escape a certain built-in goofiness as he chants nonsense songs
and bellows and barks his way through one-mantra tunes, but he
still manages to get serious every now and then on this eclectic
but rooted album. Morlix has yet to paint his masterpiece, but
getting there will be half the fun. (Henry Cabot Beck, Amazon)
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Josh
Ritter, The Golden Age of Radio,
Signature, Jan 2002. This
scruffy, well-traveled, literate Rhode Islander recalls the
desultory whispers of Nick Drake, the ragged tunefulness of Ryan
Adams, and the natural wit of a young John Prine. He may come off
as a slacker, painting his name on water towers and jamming to
Townes Van Zandt on the porch, but his lyrical skills,
unpretentiously poetic and refreshingly concise, suggest a
purposefulness that's deeper than just folksy charm. Within the
sparest musical framework--fingerpicked guitar, whirling organ,
lo-fi drums, some bass--Ritter evokes a delicately dense
romanticism that's more on edge than earnest. "This world must be
frightening," he sings, "everybody's on the run/but I can't leave
this world behind." There's quiet wisdom in Ritter's world; fans
of post-Dylan singer-songwriters will want to listen close.
(Roy Kasten)
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Mike
Marshall and Darol Anger, The Duo Live At Home and on the Range
(Compass
Records, Feb12, 2002). The virtuoso fiddler and
guitarist/mandolinist - who once were members of the David Grisman
Quartet over 20 years ago - play a newgrassy blend of
folk-world-jazz (and even classical) that often soars. From the
Amazon review by Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers : Constitutionally
eclectic, they travel from Bill Monroe tunes to Ireland (the
ever-popular "Shebag, Shemor") and Sweden ("Väsen Your Seat
Belt") to Marshall's unclassifiable originals (mandocello funk on
"Gator Strut"). The fiddle, mandolin, and guitar work is state of
the art, effortlessly swinging and telepathically in sync from
nearly a quarter century of making music together. Liner notes by
surrealist songwriter Patrick Brayer complete a fine portrait of
two musicians at the top of their game. Back
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Various
Artists, Lowdown, Dirty, Mississippi Delta
Blues (Stand on the
Ocean Records, 2001). Stand on the Ocean is a new, small,
independent-minded, Chicago-based label whose goal is to get blues
and other roots music to the public, in their own words, "before
the suits, focus groups and PC police get their hands on it." This
title is among their initial releases, and includes performances
from several acts recorded live in Mississippi Delta juke joints.
The performers - Willie Foster, Mickey Rogers, Guitar Charlie,
Blues Prodigy, and others - play the electrified version of Delta
blues that has come to be associated at least as much with Chicago
as Mississippi. Regardless, this is the real thing, folks - real
people playing and listening where it all began, in an intimate
setting so well-captured that you can smell the beer. Not
available on Amazon or CDNOW, at least not yet - click on the
title to go to the label's website to order (it's 15 bucks).
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Doug
Hoekstra, The Past Is Never Past
(Inbetweens, Oct 2001). Doug Hoekstra's often brilliant
(and always quirky and challenging) 
Around
the Margins - which was released at the beginning of the year
- made our
Best of
2001 list.
At the end of the year, Hoekstra also released, in a limited run
in Europe and the US, The Past Is Never Past, which he
calls "sort of an official bootleg, I guess." Parts of the album
are relatively straight-up compared to Margins, but there
is more here to challenge you, as well, like the avant-gardish
arrangement of the Brecht-Weill "Ballad of a Soldier's Wife."
Here's the scoop in Doug's own words: "The Past is Never Past
is a collection of songs that, like memory and experience,
could not lay fallow. Some are selections that didn’t quite
fit stylistically on Around the Margins. Others were cut as
songwriting demos; and still others were released on special
compilations, magazines, and websites. As I compiled them for my
own archives, I saw an alternate look into aspects of my journey
of the past year take shape. Jos Starmans at Inbetweens Records
suggested we prepare a special limited edition release of this
work, with a couple of new pieces added for good measure. So, much
like memory and experience, this collection took on a life of its
own, and the songs now belong to the present and future, proving
that the past is indeed, never past." Back
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Merle
Haggard, Roots
Volume 1 (Anti/Epitaph,
2001). It's entirely appropriate that the cover photo
here--Merle Haggard seated in front of a fireplace and surrounded
by the albums of his favorite country singer--bears more than a
passing resemblance to Bob Dylan's Bringing It All Back
Home. On Roots, Volume 1, Hag
brings it home here by honoring some of his earliest influences,
recording their songs in the swinging, stripped-down honky-tonk
style popular during the middle of the 20th century. Merle covers
Hank Thompson and Hank Williams, but he devotes the most time to
Lefty Frizzell. Indeed, Merle sings classics like "Always Late"
and "If You've Got the Money" in a voice brimming with Lefty's
patented curlicued phrasing. What's more, he's signed up
Frizzell's old lead guitarist, Norm Stephens, to reprise his most
indelible licks. The highlights come, though, when Haggard sings
his own songs, particularly "More Than My Old Guitar," where Merle
not only insists he loves his wife more than his six string but
more than "God loves the poor. (David Cantwell)
Slaid
Cleaves, Holiday
Sampler
(Rounder, 2001). Our extended vacation at the end of the year made
us miss this offering from Cleaves, which was released before
Christmas. It's an EP that includes five tracks: "Monster in Law,"
"November Skies," "One Good Year" (a new mix with trumpet), "You
Don't Have to Tell Me," and - for all you Dr. Seuss (or closet Jim
Carrey) fans - "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" (which we wisely
played only a couple of times and then swore off until at least
next Xmas). (MW)
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other
featured albums
Larry
Mitchell, The Bridge, TexPatriate, 2001.
Last year, we played several of the tracks from this terrific
debut album by the Selma-born, ex-Californian and now Nashvillian
Mitchell. Each time one would come on, I recall paying attention
and thinking, "Who is this guy? I like this." Each time
I would forget about it, as I was preoccupied with other
things. The CD jumped out at me again not too long ago, I put it
on the player as I worked, and damned if I didn't get that
very same distracted feeling again. My apologies to Larry for
missing that earlier opportunity to give this record the attention
it deserves.
Mitchell - a genuine Good Guy who besides music has been a
draftsman, piano technician, pastor of a small urban church, and
volunteer disaster relief and prison worker - has been heavily
influenced by the "Cosmic American Music" of Gram Parsons, among
other things, and his songwriting chops are as strong as his
compelling singing and overall performance. From the ballads to
the honkytonkers, this is a solid, well-produced record that
covers a lot of territory lyrically and musically, and you may
find yourself feeling as I was earlier when you hear something off
the album and don't yet know from where or whom it comes. You can
purchase the CD directly from Texpatriate (linked
above), or you can find it at http://www.cdbaby.com/
or http://www.texasmusicroundup.com/.
Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Kris Krisofferson, and Willie
Nelson, Highwayman
(Sony/Columbia 1985) and Highwayman
Vol 2 
Sony/Columbia
1990). We added these upon the passing of Waylon Jennings. The
first is a classic, the second merely essential. I like what
Amazon's Roy Kasten wrote about the initial release: The myth
of the American West--lawless lands, resolute heroes--takes on a
grave, elegiac quality on this first, and best, collaboration from
Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Kris
Kristofferson. There's little bravado here, just a sense of
ticking time, of frontiers lost, cowboys singing their last songs.
In the end, Highwayman works because it fuses mythic, serious
material with the artists' own legendary personas and well-aged
voices. Lesser lights would be lucky to muddle through Jimmy
Webb's epic title track; these four cagey desperados make every
fantastic image believable. If Chips Moman surrounds them with
less than subtle layers of guitars, keyboards, and drums, he does
update vintage progressive country in a suitably cosmic but rugged
fashion. Romantic legends and production values notwithstanding,
it's the tough, wise singing here that's the real draw.
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Dave
Carter and Tracey Grammer, Tanglewood
Tree (Signature, 2000).
Well, we always miss something from the previous year or year
before that (usually a bunch of things, actually), but generally
it's not nearly as good as this offering from Carter and Grammer.
Poetic contemporary folk music replete with characters on the move
who are continually caught between contradictions, beautifully
sung and played on fiddle and guitar with a deceiving subtlety
that only enhances the bittersweet irony of these songs.
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Kelly
Joe Phelps, Sky
Like a Broken Clock
(Rykodisc, July 2001). Since 1994, when he made his debut with
Lead Me On, Kelly Joe Phelps has reinvented the slide guitar to
his own specifications. . . So his considerable following may be
distressed to learn that on Sky Like a Broken Clock, Phelps has
not only forsaken his solo format but ditched the slide entirely.
Has the bluesy bard of Vancouver, Washington, gone commercial on
us? Not in the least . . . Phelps compensates for the absent slide
with some elegant fingerpicking, particularly on such pentatonic
beauties as "Beggar's Oil" and "Worn Out," which suggest a less
mordant, Americanized version of Richard Thompson. And his singing
has grown looser, whether he's slipping in and out of his falsetto
on the funky "Sally Ruby" or commemorating a lost soul in "Tommy."
A little more textural variety might have been welcome: the
ensemble settles into one melancholic groove after another, and
the dabs of organ and cello don't really change matters. For the
most part, though, this is exquisite, surprising stuff--and if
Phelps's melisma gets any smoother, he may be able to retire the
slide for good. (James Marcus)
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Robert Earl Keen,
Gravitational
Forces (Uni/Lost Highway,
August 2001). Robert Earl Keen always delivers his quota
of
rambling songs. The beautifully crafted Gravitational Forces,
however, turns around stories of guys whose ropes have run out. On
his first album in more than three years, the singer-songwriter
often backs down from the bravado of past blurts like "Whenever
Kindness Fails." Not that it's absent in the breakneck remake of
his signature "The Road Goes On Forever" or even the cover of Joe
Dolce's homebound "Hall of Fame." Yet he dwells more on the
troubled side of his drifting characters' lives: the
wrong-side-of-the-law losers of "Wild Wind," the homeless loner of
"Not a Drop of Rain." Keen tweaks pavement-bound verities even
further on the Dylanesque "Goin' Nowhere Blues" and the deadpan
spoken-word title track, which takes out his frustration with a
half-day sound check on the club's puzzling decor. If this debut
for the Lost Highway label raises Keen's profile even further, the
attention will be well deserved. (Rickey Wright)
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Gillian
Welch, Time
(The Revelator) (Acony, July
2001). The considerable promise carried forth on Gillian
Welch's first two albums is thoroughly fulfilled on Time
(The Revelator). Welch has traded the guidance
of
her previous producer, T-Bone Burnett, for the sympathetic studio
skills of her longtime guitarist-harmony singer David Rawlings,
who loosens the reins just enough to allow moments of spontaneity
to sparkle within the duo's spare, eloquent playing. "Revelator"
is an instant classic, perhaps the first great folk song of the
21st century. "I Want to Sing That Rock and Roll" is three minutes
of Louvins/Everlys-style bliss. "April the 14th, Part 1" haunts
its historical context with an achingly melancholy melody. It all
leads up to the epic 14-minute "I Dream a Highway," one of the
finest closing tracks ever put on record. (Peter Blackstock)
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Bill
Morrissey, Something
I Saw or Thought I Saw (Uni/Philo,
April 2001). New England's foremost narrative troubadour
returns with his first 
collection
of new material in five years . . . Much of this song cycle
recalls Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks, as
Morrissey applies his craggy voice and economy of detail to
bittersweet themes of romantic dissolution. From the album-opening
"Twenty Third Street" through "Just Before We Lost the War" and
"Moving Day," he avoids regret and recrimination for a more
resigned mix of fatalism and wonder, while tracing the arc of love
from its aftermath. The chamber-like arrangements complement the
understatement of the writing, with Morrissey's guitar framed by
piano, violin, and an occasional solo horn. "Harry's Last Call"
compresses a short story's richness into four minutes of song,
while "Will You Be My Rose?" ends the album on a note of
renewal. (Don McLeese)
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Bob Neuwirth,
Havana
Midnight (Appleseed, 2001).
Bob Neuwirth's long and fitful career is built around
ragged but 
soulful
folk-based recordings that are marked by an ingrained
extemporaneous spirit. Neuwirth, after all, is a dyed-in-the-wool
troubadour who's more interested in capturing the moment than
artfully shaping his songs. Which makes Havana Midnight so
unexpected and rewarding. Here the roughhewn folkie finds himself
keeping company with Cuban composer/arranger Jose Maria Vitier,
who gives Neuwirth's wistful, weary tunes a subtly ornate
stateliness and rhythmic underpinning. The beauty of Havana
Midnight is that Neuwirth's music is given a grace and elegance
that, on the surface, ought to be constricting, but instead is
entirely liberating. (Steven Stolder)
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Jeffrey
Foucault, Miles from the
Lightning (Rock
River, 2001). The Boston-based performing 
songwriter
Peter Mulvey says that "Jeffrey Foucault is Lyle Lovett with more
dirt on his boots. He has written ten of my favorite lines on this
CD and his writing is like good woodworking: You want to dwell on
it for a long, long time." Foucault himself tells us that "When I
was eighteen, I stole a copy of Townes Van Zandt's Live and
Obscure from my friend Cynthia. It's been years now and I
don't plan to give it back." He does pay someone back,
however, as the beautiful title song is dedicated to Townes
himself. (MW)
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Pierce Pettis,
State
of Grace (Compass, 2001).
Neo-folkie Pierce Pettis can always be counted on
for
poetic songs of beauty and passion that arrive at a listener's
head and heart at precisely the same time. On State of
Grace his low-key compositions, delivered with an easy
gait, illuminate the many facets of the Southern experience. All
of his references to genteel manners and verandas and Confederate
statues might seem like glossy picture post cards, except that
Pettis, an Alabaman, also finds the unique truths of a geographic
region that's lost much of its identity with the Wal-Mart
homogenization of America. Most of his songs, whether steeped in
the folk tradition or flirting with blues or rock, carry an
undertow of spirituality that promises something more than man's
troubles on this earth, and in these endeavors, especially "I've
Got a Hope," Pettis manages to bypass cloying sentiment in
conjuring something real. As the singer-songwriter puts it, this
is an album "peppered with hope." Well said, and well done, too.
And yes, with grace. (Alanna Nash)
Phil
Cody,
The
Sons of Intemperance Offering
(Uni/Interscope 1996). Although over five years old, this album is
new to us - and it's made a strong impression. Cody - a
Cincinnati-born Californian - produced a roots-rock classic with
this debut album, the bulk of which was recorded as a band live in
the studio to capture the dynamic of his stage performance, which
- at least here - is wonderfully intense. (MW) xxxxxxxxBack
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Kevin
Gordon,
Cadillac
Jack's #1 Son
(Shanachie, 1998). On his first full-length
album, Gordon marries his twangy, catchy guitar riffs to lyrics
that capture the voice of Southern, working-class whites, with the
focus and economy of John Prine or Iris DeMent. (Geoffrey
Himes). xxxxxxxxBack
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Various
Artists, Pearls
in the Snow: The Songs of Kinky Friedman
(Oarfin, 1999).
"Kinky writes from the bottom of his heart and/or the heart of
his bottom," explains Captain Midnight in the liners to this
engaging 17-song tribute to the ultimate "Texas Jewboy."
Friedman's songs offer a most unusual blend of insight and
irreverence, of scathing social 
commentary
and absolute inanity, wrapped up in traditional country clothing.
"Ride 'em Jewboy," despite its lighthearted title, is a moving
rumination about the Holocaust, delivered sympathetically by
Willie Nelson. Lee Roy Parnell assuredly honky-tonks through
"Nashville Casualty & Life," a poignant ode to a mistreated
Music City busker, while Dwight Yoakam dips his drawl into "Rapid
City, South Dakota," a song about runaways and unwanted
pregnancy--perhaps the only pro-choice country song around. Lyle
Lovett invests the proper amount of resignation into "Sold
American," Friedman's lament on fleeting stardom and capitalist
betrayal. Guy Clark, Tompall Glaser, Tom Waits, Billy Swan, and
even the Kinkster himself also issue noteworthy readings.
(Marc Greilsamer)
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Kinky
Friedman, Lasso
from El Paso
(Sarabande, 1999). The Kinkster's own Lasso from El
Paso was re-released the same year as the Pearls in the
Snow tribute, and it's likewise populated by some big-time
musicians, including Eric Clapton (on Dobro!), Roger McGuinn, Dr.
John, and members of The Band. Besides Kinky on Kinky, he covers
Ronnie Hawkins ("Kinky") and Dylan ("Catfish"), the latter
featuring the late, great Lowell George on guitar and a New
Orleansy feel compliments of producer Van Dyke Parks. My personal
favorite, however, is Kinky's cover of "The Ballad of Ira Hayes,"
Peter LaFarge's classic telling of not only this Pima-born Iwo
Jima hero's tragic fate, but by extension that of Native Americans
as a group. (MW)
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Darrell
Scott,
Aloha
from Nashville
(Sugar Hill,
1997) and Family
Tree (Sugar Hill, 1999).
These two records demonstrate why Scott was recently
named
Songwriter of the Year by the Nashville Songwriter's Association
International. As is so often the case with performing
songwriters, Scott's interpretations of his own songs are
generally more compelling to listen to than those more famous
voices in Nashvegas who, at least, have found his work worth
covering. His lack of success as a solo act - by Nashville
standards - is particularly troubling, as Scott is a soulful
singer who has absorbed a great amount of the musical/cultural
styles and rhythms of the South. "The Ballad of Martha White" is a
particularly noteworthy tune, a marvelous lament about the current
state of "country" music told with irony and bite, and yet also
with compassion for his beloved Southland. (MW)
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Jack
Ingram,
Livin' or Dyin' (Uni, 1997).
Ingram's major label, Steve Earle-produced debut displays his
promise both as 
performer
and writer. Recalling how hard it was hyped in Nashville while I
was living there, I have been reluctant to pay much attention to
it until now, which was probably jaded and unfair. Hey - it ain't
easy being a young honky tonker in this modern world, particularly
when big-time record labels expect you to justify their investment
with big-time sales that Jack has - like so many others - found
tough to produce. (MW)
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Jason
Eklund, Lost
Causeway (Flying Fish,
1995). Of this folkie performing 
songwriter,
Townes Van Zandt said, "He's the real thing - he'll never retire!"
Hey, I thought Will Massey was the real thing, too, only he's now
off somewhere quietly doing about anything but music.
Ominously, we haven't heard much from Eklund since; considering
the comparisons elicited from this debut album to Townes, Dylan,
Prine, and Waits - which is more often than not the kiss of death
- that's not terribly surprising. Eklund - whose sounds often like
a less quavery Tom House - is joined here by, among many others,
Jimmy LaFave. Let's hope we hear more from him soon, as this album
is raw, rootsy, and thoroughly enjoyable. (MW)
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Waylon
Jennings, Kris Kristoffersen, Willie Nelson, Billy Joe Shaver,
Honky
Tonk Heroes (Freefalls,
2000). What started out as a chance for Billy Joe Shaver to
revisit some of his classic songs ended up as a real Outlaw
hootenanny. Recorded over a period of years at Nelson's Pedernales
Studio, this Honky Tonk Heroes (now the third
record of Shaver songs with that same title) doesn't include the
definitive versions of these 10 compositions . . . Still, these
readings have their own unique charms, mostly in the camaraderie
and the exuberance of the iconoclastic quartet, not to mention
some gritty guitar from Shaver's son (and album coproducer) Eddy.
And it's always a treat to hear Willie sing and his guitar Trigger
solo over such bedrock American music. (Marc
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Wayne Hancock,
Thunderstorms
& Neon Signs (Uni 1998).
Playing the too-country for commercial radio side of the field,
Wayne Hancock makes some of 
the
loneliest Hank Williams-styled C&W since, well, since ol' Hank
himself. Moving easily from hillbilly bop ("Double A Daddy") to
dancehall honky tonk ("Juke Joint Jumpin'"), Hancock has the
old-school twang down cold. He succeeds most, though, when he
takes that old sound and fits it into his own modern life, as he
does on the exquisitely drawn title track, where he details why
pulling off to a motel whenever the highway weather gets bad makes
his heart swell with fond memories. (David Cantwell)
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Joe
Ely, Live
at Antone's (Uni/Rounder,
2000). Although it made our list for one of the best albums of
2000, we never featured this beauty in its entirety - and its
quintessential live performances capture Ely at his best. Terrific
playing by all, including Flamenco meister Teye (particularly on
"Gallo Del Cielo"). If you can't see/hear Ely live, this is the
next best thing. (MW)
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Wayne
Greene, Himself (Old
Blevins, 2001). Wayne Greene brings over 30 years of performing on
the stage - mostly with others, including the Dallas folkie
satirist Lu Mitchell - to this debut album, and it's a mixed bag
of folk, pop, blues, and rags. Click the above link for a full
biography of Wayne at his website, where you can also purchase
this solid, thoroughly enjoyable and independently-produced CD.
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Rick Dinsmore
and the Donner Party, Survivor (Donner Camp). Once upon
a time, Rick Dinsmore lived out in LA and had recording deals with
United Artists, Vault and Fantasy. He never got a legitimate
release, grew frustrated, and was ready to give up the business
until moving to Houston and discovering Andersen Fair. There he
was encouraged by - and became part of the same circle as -
Townes, Richard Dobson and Vince Bell. This indepenent release is
Rick's latest effort, and includes his own songs and covers of
Chris Gaffney, David Vidal, Richard Dobson, and Jimmy Driftwood.
Backing musicians include Albert Lee on guitar and "Sneaky Pete"
Kleinow on steel. Unfortunately, we don't have any information on
buying the CD at this time other than an email address -
duke499@aol.com
- but when/if we find out more we will share it here.
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Notes by Michael
Westerfield; other credits as noted
