Sons Of Liberty - The Detail Is In The Devil (Album Review)

February 24, 2024 by David Vousden in Album Reviews, Classic Rock, Hard Rock, Southern Rock

Sons Of Liberty are a bunch of old-school rockers who, somewhat surprisingly, hail from Bristol in the UK but are steeped in the harder-edged Southern rock rooted in the Southern states of the USA that came to prominence in the late 70s. The quintet made their recording debut in 2018 with a brace of EPs, ‘...Shinola’ followed by ‘Aged in Oak’. 'The Detail Is In The Devil' is their third full-length release and first with new singer Russ Grimmett.

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.

The Steel Woods - Old News (Album Review)

January 22, 2019 by David Vousden in Album Reviews, Classic Rock, Country, Southern Rock

When The Steel Woods burst onto the scene with ‘Straw in the Wind’ in 2017 they bought fresh new energy to the burgeoning Southern rock scene – not an easy thing to do with the likes of Blackberry Smoke and Whiskey Myers already spreading the word in fine style. A mix of original material and contributions from such heavyweight songwriters as Darrell Scott and Brent Cobb ‘Straw in the Wind’ was a fine record that found the band equally adept at picking out a country tune, when they weren’t exploring a melancholy Southern gothic vibe reminiscent of the solo work of Zakk Wylde. Coincidently, the band even found room for a Black Sabbath tune with a powerful blues-rock take on ‘Hole in the Sky’ which might well prove to be the first of many such excursions into the Sabbath catalogue.

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.

The Cadillac Three - Bury Me In My Boots (Album Review)

August 04, 2016 by David Vousden in Classic Rock, Country, Southern Rock, Album Reviews

Hailing from Nashville, Tennessee The Cadillac Three are perhaps an unlikely act to be enjoying success this side of the pond. The trio employ a sound that appeals to Southern rockers and country fans alike but historically this has proved a hard sell in the UK. For TC3 this has not been an issue as they’ve been incredibly well received and built an increasingly ardent following with a run of impressive festival slots and headline shows at increasingly larger venues. The release of new long-player ‘Bury Me In My Boots’ and a UK tour, that will include a show at Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London, is confirmation that the guys are on a roll. The band are here to have a good time, turn the music up and crack open the Tennessee Whiskey which kinda helps and definitely works for me.