Leroy From The North - Health and Fitness EP (Album Review)

July 26, 2019 by David Vousden in Album Reviews, Americana, Classic Rock, Country Rock, Singer-Songwriter

Leroy from the North is the debut solo offering from Eli Wulfmeier a singer/guitarist from Los Angeles by way of Michigan. If the name sounds familiar it’s hardly surprising as Eli spent three years as a member of The Wild Feathers; whose 2013, John ‘Jay’ Joyce produced, debut is a cool slab of Eagles/Jayhawks influenced country rock. Eli’s other credits include playing with Katy Rose, Shelby Lynne and Joe Purdy amongst others and he is also a member of female-fronted hard rockers Dorothy. Eli brings all of these influences along for the ride on the five tracks that comprise his ‘Health and Fitness EP.

J.P. Harris - Sometimes Dogs Bark At Nothing (Album Review)

October 04, 2018 by David Vousden in Album Reviews, Alt-Country, Americana, Country, Country Rock, Singer-Songwriter

The really great thing about country music these days is the wide range of music associated with the genre. If you like your country with that Nashville sheen, or maybe look for something a little more pop or bro it’s out there. If you’re looking for a good old-fashioned tune, that’ll bring a tear to the eye because your dog died, or your wife/significant other left you, it’s out there. In many ways, due to the sheer weight of music being produced these days there really is something for everyone. I’m happy to check out pretty much anything under the country/Americana banner but I must admit that you can’t beat an album that sounds old-school and timeless yet current. With that in mind, J.P. Harris has delivered a record that feels right, looks right and above all sounds right.

Lynyrd Skynyrd - Live In Atlantic City (Album Review)

September 20, 2018 by David Vousden in Album Reviews, Alternative Rock, Classic Rock, Country Rock, Hard Rock, Southern Rock, DVD, Blu-ray

Legendary Southern rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd are currently playing shows on their ‘Last of the Street Survivors-Farewell Tour’ with dates booked into late October of 2018. The band has toured heavily since their 1987 reformation, but with sole surviving founding member Gary Rossington enduring his own health problems in recent times maybe it really is the end of the road for Skynyrd but who’d bet against the band coming around again? Skynyrd released their last studio album ‘Last of a Dyin’ Breed’ back in 2012 and any further studio records look increasingly unlikely but the void has been filled to some degree by a slew of interesting live archival releases to keep hard-core fans busy which brings us to ‘Live In Atlantic City’ released on the German earMUSIC label.

Glenn Frey - Above The Clouds: The Collection (Album/Box Set Review)

May 09, 2018 by David Vousden in Album Reviews, Americana, Box Set, Country, Country Rock, Pop, Singer-Songwriter

When Glenn Frey passed away in 2016 he left a legacy of music of which any artist would be proud. Over the years his work as a solo artist and with the Eagles seems to have divided opinion, for every Eagles fan there seems to be hater just around the next corner, a situation I’ve always found very surprising. ‘Hotel California’ and ‘Their Greatest Hits 1971-75’ (the latter of which is the second bestselling album of all-time with 29,000,000 sales in the USA) are a fitting tribute to Frey and his talents. After forty years I’ll still happily spin 'Hotel California' and those early hits, which I consider to be solid gold classics, and I’m pleased to report the Library of Congress selected the hits album for preservation as "culturally, historically, or artistically significant" so I’m in pretty good company. The 3-CD + 1-DVD set ‘Above The Clouds’ finds us venturing far from those early country rock roots as Frey the solo artist seemed content to follow his muse wherever it took him, generally in a soft-rock / soul / R&B direction. The results, especially looking back in the cold light of day, are uneven but not without some genuinely standout tracks, all of which are presented with a professional sheen when maybe, on occasion, a little grit would have been welcome.

Josh Taerk - Stages EP (Album Review)

November 16, 2017 by David Vousden in Album Reviews, Country, Country Rock, Classic Rock, Singer-Songwriter

Toronto native Josh Taerk (pronounced Turk) is a new name to me but, with heavy-hitting support on his bio from E-Street Band drummer Max Weinberg and John Oates of Hall & Oates fame, my guess was his new ‘Stages’ EP would be well worth checking out. I’m pleased to report this assumption would prove to be correct as ‘Stages’ is a little gem.

Bill Kirchen & Austin De Lone - Transatlanticana (Album Review)

March 23, 2017 by David Vousden in Alt-Country, Album Reviews, Americana, Country, Country Rock

If ever an album lived up to its title it must be ‘Transatlanticana’ which finds the “Titan of the Telecaster” Bill Kirchen recording an album with the “Godfather of Pub Rock” Austin De Lone. Needless to say the results are pretty amazing and the UK release via The Last Music Company / Proper Records features two bonus tracks.

Darkhorse - Let It Ride

August 26, 2014 by David Vousden in Country, Album Reviews, Country Rock

Canadian vocalist Paul Laine has had a long and varied career as a solo artist and in the rock act Shugaazer, but is probably best known for his time as frontman for Danger Danger. Laine took over from original singer Ted Poley and spent a decade with the band. After a period working on other projects at his studio he returned to the limelight in 2014 as frontman for Darkhorse and released the excellent ‘Let It Ride’ album.

Jamison Road - Let It Rain

August 25, 2014 by David Vousden in Country, Album Reviews, Country Rock

Jamison Road is a trio featuring Jennifer DePalma (vocals), Brent Duersch (guitar) and Laurie Heltsley (bass / backing vocals) and ‘Let It Rain’ is their second album. It was released Aug, 2014 on the Sojourn label in the USA. The album was recorded in Nashville with Larry Beaird at the desk and with some of the top Nashville session players including Dan Dugmore and Eddie Buyers.