The Speaker Wars (Album Review)

June 08, 2025 by David Vousden in Album Reviews, Americana, Classic Rock, Country, Country Rock

Life is full of surprises. At a time when the majority of people would be content to retire, potter about in the garden, and leave new music to the young folks, erstwhile Heartbreakers drummer Stan Lynch is back with a new band and an impressive new record. The other surprise is that the Italian Frontiers label, usually the home of all things AOR and melodic hard rock, continues a welcome expansion into other musical realms. The Speaker Wars and Frontiers seem like unlikely bedfellows, but the label is to be commended for landing this particular release. More please.

Fred Abbott and The Wild Unknown - Shining Under The Soot (Album Review)

July 07, 2023 by Rich Barnard in Album Reviews, Americana, Classic Rock, Country Rock, Singer-Songwriter

Fred Abbott may be better known to you as the guitarist from the much-loved and hard-to-pigeonhole band Noah & The Whale. A popular live draw, their refreshing, inventive approach to songwriting and record-making set them apart from the crowd but ultimately the band split in 2015, with four albums to their name. Abbott’s solo debut, Serious Poke, appeared shortly after, sporting a more straightforward, guitar-centred sound. Eight years later - and having gained broad experience as a session musician and producer in between - Abbott has returned with Shining Under The Soot, a mature and beautifully crafted follow-up, brimming with energy and heart.

Noah Guthrie - Blue Wall (Album Review)

January 21, 2022 by David Vousden in Album Reviews, Alt-Country, Americana, Country, Country Rock, Singer-Songwriter

In 2022 everybody and their dog is making a record which can be both a blessing and a curse (as the RGM inbox often reminds me). The upside to this situation is the myriad ways to discover new artists, which brings me to Noah Guthrie. Admittedly Noah Guthrie is hardly a new name, as watchers of reality TV talent shows will already be well aware (Guthrie reached the semi-final of America’s Got Talent in 2018) and even appeared in the final season of Glee. Neither of these events popped up on my radar, but late one night, lost down a rabbit hole of YouTube videos, I stumbled upon guitarist Rhett Shull preparing for a gig with a bloke named Noah Guthrie…

Morgan Wade - Reckless (Album Review)

March 19, 2021 by David Vousden in Album Reviews, Americana, Country, Country Rock, Pop, Singer-Songwriter

For some artists timing is everything. Sometimes it’s because your face suddenly fits and your take on a chosen genre finds a home, but for others, it’s a little more complicated. Raised in Floyd, a small town in Virginia, Morgan Wade was surrounded by the sounds of country, predominantly bluegrass, from an early age. In later years as she began to progress as a singer and a songwriter, Wade struggled to picture her voice alongside the likes of Shania Twain and Faith Hill on the radio “Alright, well, I’m not going to sing for anybody else - but I’m singing for myself”. Wade played publicly for the first time at 19 with a band picked up via Craigslist (probably not something that I would advise all things considered) and the ball started rolling.

Chris Roberts - Red Feather EP (Album Review)

February 24, 2021 by David Vousden in Album Reviews, Americana, Country Rock, Southern Rock, Country

Chris Roberts’ career path is an interesting one. The Austin native had worked on ranches and construction sites in Texas while laying carpet and even washing cars further demonstrate a willingness to get his hands dirty. Roberts would eventually find business success with the launch of Aspen Hatter a highly regarded hat-making business (I kid you not) in Colorado. Needless to say, he’s got the life experience down and with his debut EP ‘Red Feather’ he’s also got his music down.

Louisiana's LeRoux - One Of Those Days (Album Review)

July 22, 2020 by David Vousden in Album Reviews, Classic Rock, Country Rock, Southern Rock

Louisiana’s LeRoux might be a new name to many, especially here in the UK, but the stalwart Southern rock act’s career began back in the late ‘70s inking a major label deal with Capitol Records and releasing three albums, but national success was to prove elusive. The band would switch to the RCA label for ‘Last Safe Place’ in 1982 and enjoyed a Top 20 hit ‘Nobody Said It Was Easy’ while the harder rockin’ ‘Addicted’ was also moderately successful. The LeRoux sound was firmly rooted in their native Louisiana (a roux is the Cajun gravy base used to make gumbo) and slowly evolved into a harder more classic rock sound, most notably on their 1983 album ‘So Fired Up’ after the departure of original singer/guitarist Jeff Pollard. The new line-up featured guitarist Jim Odom and ex Trillion - and future Toto vocalist - Fergie Frederiksen but despite the album including such classics as ‘Lifeline’, ‘Carrie’s Gone’ and the title track the band had seemingly reached the end of the line…

The Marshall Tucker Band – New Year’s In New Orleans! Roll Up ’78 and Light Up ’79! (Album Review)

January 15, 2020 by David Vousden in Album Reviews, Blues, Classic Rock, Country, Country Rock, Southern Rock

The Marshall Tucker Band released their debut album in 1973, embarking on an impressive run of success that yielded a string of gold and platinum records throughout the decade. This success seems to have got a little lost in the annuals of rock history, but at their best, the band could proudly stand toe to toe with Southern rock luminaries Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Allman Brothers Band.

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.