Back again with an assortment of new under the radar releases and a pair of monster re-releases. As always you’re encouraged to first support your local independent record store, of which Asheville is blessed to have several. And away we go!
Jesse Terry
Stay Here With Me
Following the release of Empty Seat on a Plane by a scant ten months, Jesse Terry’s Stay Here With Me is an even greater leap forward than I might have hoped for, a refresher course in how to make bouyant country rock sounds bright and clear and heartfelt. In essence it’s an eleven song love letter to his New Zealand born wife who has chosen the love of her husband over the natural beauty of her homeland.
Terry remains in awe of his good fortune in finding someone willing to share and support his nomadic lifestyle. In the hands of a less assured songwriter eleven variations on a theme might sound limited at best, and at its worst mushy and contived. But Terry is on the top of his game here, spinning tales and melodies with such ease as to be almost unnerving.
“Feel That Way Again” has one of the most engaging choruses I’ve heard in some time, while “Deeper Wells” and “This Should Be Home” speak directly to the hard work that helps forge a lasting relationship. None of this is relevatory.
Much like Bob Dylan’s Nashville Skyling helped reinvent our notions of country music by extracting the essence of what made it pure, Stay Here With Me gives us a glimpse of why words that strike to the heart of relationships, when set to an engaging melody and played with precision and love, can still work wonders.
I’m certainly not comparing this record to Dylan’s influential masterpiece, but in terms of sheer listening pleasure Jesse Terry’s 2103 gem can stake its own claim to greatness. ****1/2
Carol Kleyn
Return of the Silkie
Drag City Music
Originally released in 1983 on the ultra obscure Turtle Dove label, songwriter and harpist Carol Kleyn’s third recording took her back to her beginnings. Her first album (all three have now been reissued by Drag City Music) was 1976’s Love Has Made Me Stronger, a sparsely arranged collection of piano, harp, and Kleyn’s own amazing voice.
For 1980’s Takin’ the Time she — likely at the assistance of her label — added a full rock band with admittedly mixed results. That attempt failed to increase her audience while simultaneously jilting her small-in-number but impassioned followers. Here she returns to the basics of harp and voice but dubs in various nature sounds as befits the material.
Recorded in a barn that has since been converted to the Pacific Marine Mammal Center, Return of the Silkie is augmented by the sounds of ocean waves, seals, and various bird calls. It reflects Kleyn’s uncompromised commitment to environmentalism (Kleyn was attuned to the issue of global climate change long before it became fashionable), while equally anchored by her interest in Celtic music and mythology.
As such it is the sort of record that no doubt has a limited audience. Those who are sympathetic to Kleyn’s sensibilities will be greatly rewarded.
As to the music itself, Return of the Silkie stands out among her trio of highly regarded and collectible records; it is punctuated by folk legends and mystical traditions in ways that make in new age before the genre truly existed.
Songs such as “Sailor in the Sun” and “Hello Mr. Drifter” are minor key masterpieces, portraying Kleyn’s affinity for transcendence, mobility, and a world beyond the material. As such, it might come across as simplistic or even naïve, but to me it’s a message worth keeping, more poignant and immediate than it was three decades past.
I for one am grateful that Drag City has seen fit to reissue the entire catalog in such loving fashion. Kleyn herself — who now works full time in the field of environmental advocacy and marine life rescue — has helped oversee these efforts, connecting her past and present in ways that are both enjoyable and highly admirable. ****
Andrew Leahey & the Homestead
S/T
I’m embarrassed to say this disc, released nearly ten months ago, has, until now, lingered on my desk. Such is the plight of music reviewers who, even at the local level, are sent far more music than they can reasonably attend to. It’s a happy predicament, and while I understand a publicists’ desire to have a record reviewed reasonably soon after its release.
In this case, the debut effort from Andrew Leahey and company, is too good to ignore. It’s homegrown at its finest. A reminder that even the most overexposed and diluted genre — and the all inclusive term “roots rock” certainly qualifies — can still have much to offer.
Leahey is himself a former music journalist for a number of national publications; one of the few to make the elusive jump from observer to participant. His background in journalism shows. Leahey has a knack for crisp phrasing and clever (but not overly so) wordplay, but he also has a heck of a sense of melody.
While this album was recorded with a makeshift band — mostly friends and colleagues whose inexperience mirror his own — you’d hardly know it by the result. The songs range from breezy country/rock (“Heart off My Hands”), to balls out rock (““Penitentiary Guys” and “Virginia”), that grab you by the throat and refuse to let go.
The backing band — anchored by guitarists Philip Heesen and Kerry Hutcherson — lay down the grooves, while the rhythm section of bassist Robbie King and drummer Matt Morton hold everything in place with a versatile mix of swing and swagger. Leahey’s voice finds that intangible balance between tender sweet and roadhouse tough and knows just when to call on which. He’s also a rollicking good piano player, lending playfulness to the record just when things threaten to get too heavy.
All in all this is one heck of an impressive debut, well worth seeking out. While finishing this review I learned that Leahey had recently undergone life threatening brain surgery and was thankfully expected to make a slow but complete recovery.
Given the enormous medical debts he’s no doubt incurred, anyone reading this now has an even better reason to visit www.andrewleaheymusic.com and support a worthy cause while adding an even more worthy release to your music shelf.****
Blood Washed Band
Driftin’ Along
House of Mercy Music
Part Bakersfield brand country, and part tormented gospel plow rumination, Blood Washed Band’s Driftin’ Along is a powerhouse collection of songs that may have an eye on the eternal but are entrapped in the carnality of the here and now.
Fronted by singer/guitarist Page Burkum the band — guitarist Jeremy Szopinski, bassist Quillan Roe, jack of all trades Erik Brandt, fiddler Chris Becknell, and drummer Levi Stugelmeyer (abetted by vocalist Angie Talle) — are one unified assemblage who play on each other’s strengths and somehow allow everyone ample space to show their stuff. Only they rarely do, which makes Driftin’ Along a grand lesson in teamwork.
While the band doesn’t write the bulk of their material, they’ve a knack of finding just the right songs to get across their message of faithful redemption and the promise of a better world. Be it Hank Williams’ “Calling You” or a selection of songs by B. Larson written specifically for them, this is good time stuff, full of pinwheel rhythms, swirling vocals, and careening arrangements that never jump the rails.
And while the confessing their sins part is no doubt genuine, one gets the sense that while Blood Washed Band is truly sorry for the their trespasses — both real and imagined — given half a chance they do them all over again. ****
The Horse’s Ha
Water Drawn
Fluff and Gravy Records
By adopting your band name from a Dylan Thomas short story you’re pretty much showing your cards, and, in some snooty circles, opening yourself up to charges of reaching beyond your means.
While the Chicago duo of Janet Bean (lead vocalist for Freakwater) and Jim Elkington have done just that, the music herein, while proudly building on a tradition of literate folk music, is anything but pretentious. In fact it’s beautifully constructed, moving, and downright gorgeous, evoking memories of the earliest years of Richard and Linda Thompson — as seen through a 21st century lens — and harkening back to Steeleye Span.
While the opening “Conjured Caravans” seems a bit disjointed, with Bean’s lilting voice at odds with Elkington’s baritone growl, things quickly get much better. The title track is simply stunning, while “Bonesetter” shows how well the two can mesh.
Strangely enough, while I truly do enjoy the vocal interplay, its “Sea Shanty”, the closing instrumental track that offers up the album’s most emotionally arresting moment. It’s as perfect a melody as I’ve heard this year, and helps finish off Water Drawn on a very high and satisfying note. ***1/2
Ten Years After
Recorded Live (Expanded version)
The cover of Ten Years After’s 1973 album, Recorded Live, depicts a giant reel-to-reel recorder, which certainly captures the era when this double-LP set was recorded. Approaching the end of their run — only one more album would come, Recorded Live is clearly a relic of its time.
From the album cover photo of a reel-to-reel recorder, to the stretched out arena rock improvisations (which in some strange way foretold the arrival of jam bands), the 21 tracks found herein — eight more than the original release — may be little more than excuses for Alvin Lee’s slow burning guitar solos, but that in itself isn’t a bad thing.
Sure it’s a bit self indulgent, in a way albums of that period often were, but for fans of Lee and company, this generous expansion of the original should strike just the right power cord. ***1/2
King Crimson
The Road to Red
Burning Shed/Panegyric
At 21 CDs, 1 DVD, 2 Blu-Ray discs, and a comprehensive booklet, not to mention exquisite packaging, The Road to Red is clearly the ultimate geek fest for King Crimson fans, and an overload for the senses.
Culled from performances spanning the spring and summer of 1974, the discs essentially follow a roadmap of the band’s historic US tour, playing in support of 1972’s Larks Tongue in Aspic and the just released Starless and Bible Black. Sure it’s indulgent: There are no less than a dozen versions of “Starless” or the epochal “21st Century Schizoid Man” but isn’t that the point?
Beautifully packaged with abundant sleeve notes and replica memorabilia, The Road to Red is clearly not intended for the faint of heart or light of wallet (it retails for slightly over $200). It further includes a stereo remix — courtesy of Robert Fripp and Steven Wilson — of the studio album Red, making this collection the perfect holiday gift for the King Crimson fanatic in your life. Especially if its’ yourself! *****