New Music Monthly: April 2019 Releases

Welcome to Spring 2019! The flowers are blooming, the weather is getting warmer, and maybe it's raining wherever you are. But there's plenty of great music being released this month to keep you company, including new tunes from folks like Jimbo Mathus, Melissa Etheridge, Will Kimbrough, Nils Lofgren, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, and bluesman Harpdog Brown. Throw in live discs from Todd Rundgren's Utopia and Lone Justice, and archive releases from Professor Longhair, reggae legends Culture, and Pearl Harbour & the Explosions and April shapes up to be a helluva month for music!

If you’re interesting in buying an album, just hit the ‘Buy!’ link to get it from Amazon.com...it’s just that damn easy! Your purchase puts valuable ‘store credit’ in the Reverend’s pocket that he’ll use to buy more music to write about in a never-ending loop of rock ‘n’ roll ecstasy! 

APRIL 5
The Drums - Brutalism   BUY!
Lee Fields & the Expressions - It Rains Love   BUY!
Dana Gillespie - What Memories We Make: Complete Mainman Recordings 1971-1974   BUY!
Idlewild - Interview Music   BUY!
Jimbo Mathus - Incinerator   BUY!
Priests - The Seduction of Kansas   BUY!
Professor Longhair - Live On the Queen Mary   BUY!
Professor Louie & The Crowmatix - Songs Of Inspiration   BUY!
Todd Rundgren's Utopia - Live at the Chicago Theatre [CD/DVD]   BUY!

APRIL 12
The Budos Band - V   BUY!
Culture - The Nighthawk Recordings   BUY!
Melissa Etheridge - The Medicine Show   BUY!
Lone Justice - Live at the Palomino, 1983   BUY!
Pearl Harbor & the Explosions - Pearl Harbour & the Explosions [reissue]   BUY!
Shovels & Rope - By Blood   BUY!

APRIL 19
Cage the Elephant - Social Cues   BUY!
Will Kimbrough - I Like It Down Here   BUY!
Mitch Woods - A Tip of the Hat To Fats   BUY!

APRIL 26
Harpdog Brown - For Love & Money   BUY!
J.J. Cale - Stay Around [posthumous release]   BUY!
The Cranberries - In the End   BUY!
The Damned Things - High Crimes   BUY!
Craig Finn - I Need A New War   BUY!
Foxygen - Seeing Other People   BUY!
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard - Fishing For Fishies   BUY!
Nils Lofgren - Blue With Lou   BUY!
The Mountain Goats - In League With Dragons   BUY!
Nine Shrines - Retribution Therapy   BUY!

Album of the Month: Dana Gillespie's What Memories We Make: Complete Mainman Recordings 1971-1974 is a two-disc set that collects the powerhouse vocalist's two RCA Records albums she made while hanging around David Bowie and was managed by MainMain. This includes her bluesy, critically-acclaimed 1973 RCA debut Weren't Born A Man and the rapid follow-up, 1974's Ain't Gonna Play No Second Fiddle. Throw in some alternative versions and demo recordings from the rare 1971 BOWPROMO promotional-only album and you have a complete document of an important era in the artist's career. Gillespie is undergoing a bit of a rediscover these days – aside from What Memories We Make, the newly-revived Rev-Ola Records label also recently reissued the singer's first two albums for Decca Records on CD as London Social Scene.  

CD Preview: Red Hot A Memphis Celebration of Sun Records

There can be no denying that Sam Phillips’ Sun Records imprint had an enduring and important influence on not only the creation and evolution of rock ‘n’ roll but on the promotion of blues and R&B music as well. Founded in Memphis, Tennessee in 1952, Sun Records is best-known as the initial home of the legend, Elvis Presley. But Sun can also brag of releasing records by then-unknown musical giants like Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins; producer Phillips’ love of R&B also prompted him to record essential early sides by Howlin’ Wolf, Little Milton, Roscoe Gordon, and Memphis’s own Rufus Thomas, among many others.

On June 16th, 2017 the Americana Music Society will release Red Hot: A Memphis Celebration of Sun Records in honor of the Bluff City’s homegrown indie label which changed the direction of popular music. Proceeds from the CD will benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® which treats children with cancer and other life-threatening diseases. The tribute album was co-produced by roots-rocker Luther Dickinson of the North Mississippi Allstars, and Tamara Saviano, a Nashville-based writer and producer and the author of Without Getting Killed or Caught: The Life and Music of Guy Clark.

Red Hot: A Memphis Celebration of Sun Records was recorded at the two legendary recording studios owned by Phillips – the original Memphis Recording Service, later known as Sun Studio and opened in 1950, and the Sam Phillips Recording Service, opened in 1959 – and the album features performances by a slate of talented roots ‘n’ blues artists. Luther Dickinson and his brother Cody are the sons of late Memphis music legend Jim Dickinson, who recorded for Sun Records in 1966 with his garage-rock band the Jesters. The Red Hot house band includes Memphis singer/bassist Amy LaVere, singer/guitarist John Paul Keith, keyboardist Rick Steff of Lucero as well as the Dickinson brothers on guitar and drums.

Along with vocal performances by Luther Dickinson, John Paul Keith and Amy LaVere, Red Hot includes contributions by Valerie June, Shawn Camp, Jimbo Mathus, Alvin Youngblood Hart, and the great Bobby Rush. Check out the Red Hot website for more info on the project and then order this worthwhile CD from Amazon.com.

L-R: Luther Dickinson, Valerie June,
Jimbo Mathus, Rick Steff (seated)

CD Review: Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band's Front Porch Sessions (2017)

Reverend Peyton of “Big Damn Band” fame has carved out his own little corner of the blues world, straddling the fine line between traditional country blues and contemporary Americana (i.e. an inspired hybrid of country twang, muddy blues, and folk music) with original songs cranked out in a high-energy, octane-fueled fervor. The Big Damn Band’s sound is as minimalist as one can achieve in a recording studio, just the Reverend’s finger-picked guitar licks and low growl vocals, wife Breezy Peyton’s raucous percussion (washboard, typically, but also handclaps and tambourine), and the occasional drummer, this time around it’s Max Senteney with his suitcase drum. They can make a lot of noise for three people, but it’s a joyful noise.

Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band’s Front Porch Sessions

The entire Big Damn Band ensemble is as portable – and powerful – as the blues can be, like Charley Patton picking up his guitar and hitchhiking down Highway 61 to the next town over. The Big Damn Band has toured better than 200 nights a year since the 2004 independent release of The Pork n’ Beans Collection album, opening for such like-minded fellow travelers as Jimbo Mathus and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band as well as for punk and metal outfits like Flogging Molly and Clutch; they’ve also performed on the Van’s Warped Tour. So while the band’s overall appeal is to an audience that skews toward the youthful end of the rock ‘n’ blues experience, there’s a lot to like for we tired, middle-aged blues fans as well.

Front Porch Sessions is the latest from Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, and the follow-up to their critically-acclaimed 2015 set So Delicious. This time around the trio has hooked up with Americana marketing giant Thirty Tigers to release Front Porch Sessions on their own indie Family Owned Records imprint. Musically, Reverend Peyton never strays far from his Delta-haunted old-school blues sound – no sense in re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, you know – and nowhere is this more evident than on the passionate, claustrophobic cover of the great Furry Lewis’s “When My Baby Left Me.” Peyton’s guitar lines shimmer and quiver like the ghost of Son House, his anguished vocals propelled into an otherworldly emotional realm by the song’s rudimentary percussion.

Peyton’s original “One Bad Shoe” is an engaging slice o’ pure country blues; the song’s rambling bass line is interwoven with twangy guitar and the singer’s woeful, broke-ass tale of poverty is as relevant today as it was in the terrible 1920s. Less dour, the upbeat “It’s All Night Long” merges the fever of a tent revival with the beer-drenched energy of the juke-joint, the song a rowdy, mostly-instrumental romp punctuated by whoops and hollers above Peyton’s mesmerizing fretwork. “One More Thing” is an equally powerful take on modern life, Peyton’s lyrics perfectly capturing the reality of life on the economic edge while his guitar gently moans. There are only three cover songs on Front Porch Sessions, the last of which – Blind Willie Johnson’s “Let Your Light Shine” – the best of all, the song provided a Southern gospel feel with Peyton’s spiritually-inspired vocals, stinging guitar licks, and plenty of foot-stompin’ percussion.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

Modern blues fans pay a lot of lip service to traditional blues, but most of ‘em were weaned on Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan records. It’s a sure bet that many seldom pull out the crusty old Charley Patton or Son House records and play them…1920s-vintage recordings are difficult to listen to, they sound downright alien with their primitive recording techniques, and it takes a lot of historical context to appreciate them.

What Reverend Peyton and his Big Damn Band have done is take that hallowed antique blues sound and made it palatable for young, modern audiences. As witnessed by Front Porch Sessions, Peyton has done an admirable job of absorbing his influences and creating something vibrant, original, and contemporary that pays reverence to his blues forebears and sounds like it should be lighting up a juke-joint stage. Front Porch Sessions is another fine effort from a skilled practitioner of vintage blues. Grade: B+ (Family Own Records/Thirty Tigers, released March 10, 2017)

Buy the CD from Amazon.com: Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band's Front Porch Sessions

Album Review: Jimbo Mathus' Band of Storms (2016)

Roots ‘n’ blues artist Jimbo Mathus has certain stayed busy the last few years. Befitting his heightened status as an Americana icon, the talented journeyman has released five solo albums in as many years, including last year’s excellent Blue Healer. Mathus teamed up with his British counterpart Ian Siegal for a 2014 U.K. tour which resulted in the Wayward Sons live album, released earlier this year. And now, courtesy of the good folks at Big Legal Mess and Fat Possum Records, we have Band of Storms, a nine-song Mathus EP that’s available exclusively on glorious black vinyl and as a digital download.

The cover artwork of Band of Storms is by Erika Jane Amerika, the artist capturing the vibe of these songs with her portrait of Mathus standing in a cypress swamp – guitar in one hand and a fiery bible in the other – with an alligator at his feet alongside his Catahoula dog and a snake-handling Yemayá (the “great mother” of Santeria religion). The outsider folk cover artwork of Band of Storms accurately portrays the themes of Jimbo’s songs; musically, clocking in at around 23 minutes, Band of Storms offers Mathus’ typical inspired mix of roots-rock, blues, R&B, honky-tonk country, and outré Americana.

Jimbo Mathus’ Band of Storms

The party kicks off with the strong “Gringo Man,” a lowdown, funky romp with blazing horns courtesy of saxophonist Jim Spake and trumpeter Stu Cole. The song’s boogie-flavored rhythms flow around Mathus’ vocals, providing a swaying backdrop for his thin, piercing guitar licks. The New Orleans blues of “Can’t Get Much Higher” draw upon the legendary Professor Longhair for inspiration, Eric Carlton’s jazzy piano stomp providing a fine counterpoint to Mathus’ twangy, patois-strewn vocals, which would sound right at home blaring from a Bourbon Street juke.

The country-flavored “Play With Fire,” co-written by Mathus with his late friend Robert Earl Reed, is one magnificent bastard of a song. Mathus’ somber, low-register vocals remind of the great Johnny Cash, the song’s brilliant lyrical imagery heightened by the singer’s passion in delivering this sparse tale of “devil may care,” living life to the fullest. The song’s sparse instrumentation is just enough to drive the spike home. Slowing down the pace even further, Mathus’ “Stop Your Crying” is a wayward hybrid of Dylan, the Band, Robert Johnson, and a hundred years of American music. A classic old-school murder ballad with centuries old roots, the song offers slow-burning, Tom Petty-styled vocals with swelling cascades of harmony and dense instrumentation.

Mass of Confusion

A ramshackle sonic assault, “Massive Confusion” is a greasy garage-blues rave-up with a sly nod towards 1960s’ psychedelic rock, the song roaring through your speakers like a freight train rattling down the tracks with double-tap drumbeats and scraped guitar strings that create a head-shaking miasma of sound. “Wayward Wind” is as close to an authentic modern ballad as Mathus gets on Band of Storms, the tune a tumbleweed-strewn lament with gritty, sandpaper vocals and anguished lyrics that come across as more earnest and sincere than one might believe at first blush. The instrumentation displays a slight Celtic influence, and Mathus’ elegantly-wasted fretwork stirs up memories of James Burton’s taut, wiry Telecaster tones.

The sunburned, Delta-flavored “Slow Down Sun” is a deceptively bluesy track, with Mathus’ languid, drawled vocals matched by resonant, rattletrap acoustic git licks and subtle percussion; the sizzling, slow-tempo performance isn’t so much a ballad as a slippery reflection caught in swamp water. The cockeyed and more than a little fractured “Keep It Together” is pure poetry set to clamorous but effective instrumentation with scraps of lovely guitar rising above the fray. Closing the EP, “Catahoula” is a real shit-kicker, with wired finger-pickin’, spry instrumentation, yelped vocals, and at least partially nonsensical lyrics that are delivered with all the brittle energy and unbridled enthusiasm of a 1920s-era jug band, i.e. some real ‘poop-puntin’ music,’ as me dear ol’ grandpappy used to say!

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

Jimbo Mathus seldom disappoints, and Band of Storms hits all the right notes in its ambitious and masterful exploration of American music forms. Although a bit on the short side – more Jimbo is always better – these songs were built for vinyl, and the EP delivers traditionalist sounds with a contemporary edginess. Kudos to Jimbo Mathus and his crew for another mighty fine record. Grade: A (Big Legal Mess Records, released May 6, 2016)

Buy the EP from Amazon.com: Jimbo Mathus' Band of Storms

CD Preview: Jimbo Mathus’ Band of Storms

You just never know where Jimbo Mathus’ restless muse is going to take him, so every new recording from the talented Mississippi native is an adventure. On May 6th, 2016, Mathus fans can ride the roller-coaster when Big Legal Mess, via Fat Possum Records, releases the nine-song EP Band of Storms.

Characterized by Mathus in a press release for the new record as “just some offs and ends…you know, folk music,” Band of Storms is said to feature an inspired mix of garage-rock, blues, honky-tonk, R&B, and other American music forms. “It’s just a continuation of the work I’ve been doing for, shoot, the past 20 years,” Mathus says. “There’s no big overall, arching thing. It’s just random notes out of my brain.”

The EP’s cover art is by Erika Jane Amerika, the artist capturing the vibe of the songs with her portrait of Mathus standing in a cypress swamp with a guitar in one hand and a fiery bible in the other, with an alligator at his feet alongside his Catahoula dog and a snake-handling Yemayá (the “great mother” of Santeria religion). The folksy cover art of Band of Storms accurately portrays the theme of Mathus’ songs, of which he says “it’s dealing with nature – forces beyond us – and trying to sum it up in my little cave paintings that we call recorded songs.”
   
Band of Storms was recorded at Dial Back Sound, the Water Valley, Mississippi studio owned by Fat Possum Records partner Bruce Watson. Mathus records at the studio frequently, and he’s joined on the EP by a talented group of multi-instrumentalist musicians like Ryan Rogers, Eric Carlton, Will McCarley, Jim Spake, and Stu Cole, among others, who helped create what Mathus calls a “primal Southern groove.” Eight of the nine songs were written by Mathus, with “Play With Fire” co-written with Mathus’ late friend Robert Earl Reed.

The songs on Band of Storms range from the garage-rockin’ “Massive Confusion,” an homage to bands like the Ramones and the Replacements, where Mathus notes the unlikely rhyming of “Yemayá” with “FBI,” and odd pairing to be sure. “I wrote it when I was getting audited by the IRS and I was trying to save my fuckin’ ass,” says Mathus. “It’s just super-punk rock. I came up in the ’80s and the Replacements turned me on to songwriting. They showed me that I could actually write songs. I’m 48, but I’m still a punk rocker.” Other songs on the EP include the bluesy “Can’t Get Much Higher,” the twangy Southern Gothic “Stop Your Crying,” and the Celtic-inspired “Wayward Wind.”

Jimbo Mathus never disappoints, so circle May 6th on your calendar and get ready to part with some coin for a copy of Band of Storms, nine brand new songs by one of Americana’s most imaginative and exciting artists.

CD Preview: Ironing Board Sam’s Super Spirit

Since hooking up with the good folks at the Music Maker Relief Foundation in 2010, blues legend Ironing Board Sam has been making up for lost time. After the non-profit outfitted the flamboyant musician with new gear, Sam has been hitting the road and the recording studio alike, releasing four critically-acclaimed albums under the Music Maker banner in four years.

The 75-year-old bluesman isn’t done yet, nosirree…on October 2nd, 2015, Big Legal Mess Records (a subsidiary of Mississippi’s esteemed Fat Possum Records) will release Ironing Board Sam’s Super Spirit, a new ten-track collection produced by Big Legal Mess head honcho Bruce Watson and roots ‘n’ bluesman Jimbo Mathus at Watson’s Dial Back Studio in Water Valley, Mississippi.

Ironing Board Sam is backed on Super Spirit by a band that includes Mathus on guitar, bassist Stu Cole (Squirrel Nut Zippers), and drummer Barrett Martin (Screaming Trees). In his role as producer, Watson drew inspiration from classic 1960s and ‘70s era singles, pulling out songs by Ann Peebles, the Gories, Mathus, Jack Oblivian, and Roy Hawkins, among others for Sam to wrap his soulful voice around. The result is Super Spirit, a lively collection of blues, soul, and rock ‘n’ roll with a funky undercurrent that’s guaranteed to blow your mind!

Born Sammie Moore in Rock Hill, South Carolina in 1939, Sam got his nickname by strapping his keyboards to an ironing board hanging from his neck, allowing him to move around on stage. Way back in ’62, Sam’s band included a red-hot guitarist who would become known as Jimi Hendrix, and throughout the 1960s and ‘70s he released a number of singles for Atlantic Records and numerous soul labels, and was a regular guest on the Night Train TV show.

Although Sam scored some regional hits through the years, he wouldn’t release a debut album until 1996’s Human Touch. An earlier album, Ninth Wonder of the World of Music, which Sam using as a sort of calling card with promoters, was recorded in the 1970s but not released commercially until 2011. With Super Spirit, Ironing Board Sam is building on a legacy decades in the making. Check out Sam’s “Baby You Got it,” a track from Super Spirit, embedded below. You’re welcome…

Buy the CD from Amazon.com: Ironing Board Sam's Super Spirit