Chris Roberts - Red Feather EP (Album Review)
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.
As Chris tells it music wasn’t always on the cards "I never tried to become a musician, I never thought I would play music. I never desired to play music. It's just that music kept falling into me and out of me until I had no choice”. The music might have made him do it, but there’s nothing forced about ‘Red Feather’ a five-track EP that Chris and his excellent band recorded under quarantine conditions at Skylab Studio in Joshua Tree on a pandemic enforced break from playing shows. Chris has dubbed the recordings “Rock n’ Roll – hippie-country” and please believe me when I say the resulting recordings are pretty darn great.
Chris Roberts photo credit Kimberly Hunt.
Opening track ‘Get Down’ gets things off to a fine start via swirling organ, a pumping rhythm section and guitarist Eli Wulfmeier’s potent mix of funky licks, twang and crunch. Chris delivers his vocal with just the right mix of edge and drawl while the instrumental breakdown mid-song is especially fine with Adam Arcos’ bass and ringing guitars to the fore. Jake Abernathie’s piano and organ skills usher in the epic soul of ‘Hate When You’re Gone‘ which sounds like it should have been recorded years ago at Muscle Shoals or FAME. Two tracks in and Chris is already preaching to the converted and you’ve got to love those horns. Jason Ganberg’s pounding drums and crunching guitars are the order of the day for the hard-edged, brooding Southern rock of ‘On My Own’ which mutates into psychedelic/reggae strangeness without losing any of its power. ‘On My Own’ is seriously great. ‘Coming Down Ain’t Easy’ is up next and eases things back a little as it builds slowly displaying an ambient power that’s almost Floydian. Chris is in fine vocal form and Eli Wulfmeier finds plenty of room to stretch out (regular RGM readers might recognise Eli aka Leroy From The North from a review on this site). The EP concludes with ‘Remember It’s Me’ built on a bedrock of biting slide guitar this is another fine tune delivered with conviction by Chris and his band.
Short and sweet it might be, but as a calling card for the songwriting skills and rich, smoky voice of Chris Roberts ‘Red Feather’ is an impressive first shot. A top band, excellent production and interesting arrangements is a winning combination that makes me think we’ll be hearing a lot more in the future from Chris Roberts
Red Feather will be released digitally on February 26th and you can check it out via this fanlink to your preferred music service.
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.