Noah Guthrie - Blue Wall (Album Review)
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…
Although still in his mid-twenties, South Carolina based Noah Guthrie began his songwriting journey in his early teens and has put in the hard yards playing hundreds of live shows and releasing two previous albums. His latest release, ‘Blue Wall’ is a terrific record that sits comfortably on both sides of the Americana/country music divide. Punchy when it needs to be but equally happy taking a smoother and more reflective route is no easy task, luckily Guthrie is as adept at a smooth falsetto as he is a bluesy rasp akin to Greg Allman. The guy can really sing. ‘Blue Wall’ is an independent release that began as a Kickstarter campaign, and while It’s always a leap of faith for the music fan with this approach to funding an album, I’m very sure if you invested your hard-earned cash, you must be overjoyed with ‘Blue Wall’.
Recorded at Studio 100 in Woodruff, South Carolina, the first thing that strikes you about ‘Blue Wall’ is it sounds fantastic. Guthrie and co-producer/drummer Ian Guthrie (is this a family affair?) have gone for a lovely clean sound that allows every instrument plenty of room to breathe and a well-defined place in the soundstage. Ian's drum track introduces and anchors the opening ‘Hell Or High Water' alongside swirling organ, upfront bass and strident guitars underpinning a terrific Guthrie vocal that looks at life choices and the ageing process “Gettin’ older is just another term for surviving”. ‘That’s All’ is more reflective, with the addition of pedal steel, fiddle and some deftly placed percussion adding to what is an expertly crafted arrangement. ‘Things To Fix’ finds Noah fixing up his house when he realises he should put the tools down as his relationship needs fixing first - a nicely judged lyric backed up by some fine guitar playing. Drums kick back in for the punchy ‘Welcome The Stranger’ before the Guthrie/Sarah Potenza co-write ‘High Enough’ steals the show as possibly the best thing on the album. ‘High Enough’ is simply stunning, oozing bluesy soulfulness and sheer power it benefits greatly, from a perfectly pitched Rhett Shull solo that starts slowly before exploding into life, ultimately reaching a crescendo that's perfectly matched by Guthrie’s impressive vocal.
‘High Enough’ is without a doubt a standout, but the album offers plenty of other delights among its twelve tracks. Guthrie and his team don’t do filler with the quality of songs and performance remaining high throughout. One listen to the epic balladry of ‘When You Go’ should convince any casual listener of this, while the likes of ‘Only Light I Need’ and the gospel-tinged ‘Last Time I Think Of You’ (one of two tracks co-written with singer/songwriter Maia Sharp) begin gently with just Guthrie’s vocal and an acoustic guitar before expanding via the addition of subtle organ textures and backing vocals from more members of the Guthrie clan (David and Lori) – the slide guitar break in ‘Only Light I Need’ is an especially welcome addition. The album concludes with the title track, which again finds Guthrie with just an acoustic guitar for company, it proves to be the only instrumentation required, as Guthrie paints cinematic images with his words that transport you to the ‘Blue Wall’, the name the Native Americans gave to the Blue Ridge Mountains. It’s a lovely track that fittingly closes out the album.
‘Blue Wall’ is a fantastic record from a singer and songwriter with much to offer. I think we’ll be hearing a lot more in the future from Noah Guthrie, but in the meantime, ‘Blue Wall’ sets the bar pretty high for 2022 and comes very highly recommended.
A new name to me, but based on the new EP, ‘Tigers in Your Backyard (Nocturnal Edition)’, Molly Murphy is one to watch. Initially, Molly embarked on a promising college career as a double Film and English Major pursuing a career in screenwriting but left all that behind to form a band (as you do). Murphy’s latest release finds the singer-songwriter adding a modern sheen to her traditional Celtic roots.