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 RGM Review Roundup July 2020

July 17, 2020 by Rich Barnard in Album Reviews, Country, Folk, Singer-Songwriter, Americana

As usual, RGM has been inundated with quality music from here, there and everywhere. We’re not complaining, especially in these difficult times when a good tune can provide shelter from the pandemic storm. RGM scribe Rich Barnard found time from homeschooling and making the kids lunch to check out four recent/upcoming albums that we believe are well worth your time and/or hard-earned money From Canada via the wilds of Scotland to sunny California welcome to the July edition of the RGM review roundup.

Nick D'Virgilio (NDV) - Invisible (Album Review)

June 25, 2020 by David Vousden in Album Reviews, Classic Rock, Progressive Rock, Rock, Singer-Songwriter

In these days of short attention spans and instant gratification, there’s something very refreshing about sitting down with your favourite beverage, placing an album on/in the stereo and letting an artist take you on a musical journey. Nick D’Virgilio has been on a personal musical journey that began a few years before the release of his debut solo album back in 2001. Nick is probably best known for his time in Spock’s Beard where he started as the drummer and branched out into frontman duties. But this association barely scratches the surface of a varied and interesting CV; there’s an ongoing relationship with Big Big Train – and fifteen years working with Tears For Fears - while still finding time to record and/or perform with many of the best in the business including the late Kevin Gilbert, Mike Keneally (Frank Zappa) and a five-year stint as drummer/singer/assistant bandleader with the Cirque Du Soleil organisation touring their Totem show. For ‘Invisible’ Nick D’Virgilio (NDV) pulls together elements from all of his various musical endeavours and throws in a left turn or two on an obvious labour of love that finds the singer/drummer/multi-instrumentalist at the top of his game.

Robert Francis + The End Times - Vol.1 (Album Review)

June 19, 2020 by Rich Barnard in Album Reviews, Alternative Rock, Americana, Classic Rock, Singer-Songwriter

Unbound by genre, Robert Francis’ latest record is the unlikely betrothal of Tom Pettyish classic rock to 90s Radioheadia. Dalliances with Americana, Jazz and 60s psych leave their mark on this otherwise most stable of marriages within which Francis dissects - often ambivalently - the regret and restlessness of human relationships. There are those that are destructive, those that are desperate and those that have long since disintegrated and alongside, of course, there is the ever-changing relationship with the self.

Teghan Devon - Little Lion EP (Album Review)

June 12, 2020 by David Vousden in Album Reviews, Singer-Songwriter

We all deal differently with the loss of a loved one. There is no right or wrong way to react when placed in a situation that is, unfortunately, one of the tough facts of life from which none of us will be immune. There’s no road map; no perfect A-Z guide on how to do things, what to say, how to feel, how to deal with that almost overwhelming rush of emotions as so many thoughts and memories surface demanding your attention. Teghan Devon’s new EP ‘Little Lion’ might be about the loss of a childhood pet – or so it seems on the surface - but in dealing with that situation she’s tapped into the universal feelings we experience when faced with the loss of someone close to us.

Kevin Hunt - Devil's Daughter (Album Review)

June 05, 2020 by David Vousden in Album Reviews, Folk, Singer-Songwriter

Kevin Hunt might well be a new name to many and ‘Devil’s Daughter’ is indeed his debut album but dig a little deeper and you’ll find twenty-five years of hard work and plenty of road miles etched into the grooves of ‘Devil’s Daughter’. Kevin’s slow ascent up the folk music ladder was boosted by an appearance at Cambridge Folk Festival in 2018 and the time was finally right to get his songs captured for posterity. The Irishman ventured into Gladeside Studios in Cambridge, where producer Dan Wilde was the man entrusted to capture the essence and spirit of those road worked tunes.

Ken Yates - Quiet Talkers (Album Review)

May 27, 2020 by Rich Barnard in Album Reviews, Americana, Folk, Singer-Songwriter

Sharing an easy-going vocal intimacy with Josh Rouse and Paul Simon, singer-songwriter Ken Yates’ new album is undeniably gentle on the ear. Spotlessly produced by multi-instrumentalist Jim Bryson (who also worked on Yates’ 2016 LP, Huntsville) there’s a light, west coast sheen to Yates’ brand of folky Americana. But, delve a little deeper and you’ll quickly find a sobering lyrical wisdom that’s not always synonymous with the genre.

Nichole Wagner - Dance Songs For The Apocalypse EP (Album Review)

May 20, 2020 by David Vousden in Album Reviews, Americana, Folk, Pop

It’s been said many times before, but the covers record is a fickle beast and incredibly hard to get right. Do you slavishly replicate every note of the original or take a more daring approach? The replication route can prove a little dull, while the opposite route can lead to disaster, upsetting fans of the original and alienating fans hungry for original material. Both options can be considered a pointless exercise best reserved for the contractual obligation release - if you’ve not recorded a live show. Luckily Nichole Wagner didn’t listen to this advice or seemingly worry about any of these issues, and the result is an impressive release with a foot in both camps.

The RGM Review Roundup May 2020

May 15, 2020 by Rich Barnard in Album Reviews, Singer-Songwriter, Americana, Pop

Welcome to the return of an occasional RGM feature where we corral a quartet of upcoming and/or recent releases that we believe should be on your musical wish list. From bigger names to those on the first rung of the career ladder all of the artists featured here are well worth your time. From a singer-songwriter we discovered via a well-chosen support slot at a live show (you do remember live shows?) to more high profile acts with a proven pedigree the RGM team are always on the lookout for new music. So please join us on the search.

Jamie Lawson - Moving Images EP (Album Review)

May 05, 2020 by Rich Barnard in Album Reviews, Folk, Pop, Singer-Songwriter

A hardworking but relatively under-the-radar troubadour since the early 2000s, Jamie Lawson released a string of EPs and two LPs before coming to fame in 2015 as the first signing to Ed Sheeran’s Gingerbread Man Records label. Since then, Lawson has supported the megastar on stadium tours, released three albums (including a UK number 1) and won an Ivor Novello. You’ll agree that there are crappier ways in which to start your forties but, following the whirlwind, it seems that Lawson - who’s recently become a father - is now ready for a somewhat quieter life.

Richard Marx - Limitless (Album Review)

March 26, 2020 by David Vousden in Album Reviews, Classic Rock, Country, Pop, Singer-Songwriter

When Richard Marx burst onto the scene with his self-titled debut album in 1987 he enjoyed almost unprecedented success. The album sold more than four million copies propelled by four hit singles which showed Marx was equally adept at penning a hard-rockin' tune as he was a ballad. ‘Repeat Offender’ followed in 1989 repeating (no pun intended) and even eclipsing the success of the debut from a sales point of view. Third album ‘Rush Street’ spawned probably Marx’s best-known song ‘Hazard’ which topped many international charts in 1992. His fourth album ‘Paid Vacation’ was again successful, but Marx’s star was beginning to fade and his sound was becoming increasingly more influenced by soul, R&B and pop which alienated many fans of those early records. Marx has continued to release albums sporadically since his commercial heyday and has become a songwriter in demand penning hits for artists as diverse as Keith Urban, Josh Groban, NSYNC and the wonderfully poignant ‘Dance With My Father’ with Luther Vandross.

King Calaway - Rivers (Album Review)

March 06, 2020 by David Vousden in Album Reviews, Country, Pop

Multinational sextet King Calaway have been making waves stateside for a few months now and the UK is the next target for the band with the official release of their debut record and a string of appearances at C2C. The UK seems to have embraced country music in the mainstream for the first time in many years but is the UK really ready for a country music boyband? RGM takes a listen.

Frazey Ford - You kin B the Sun (Album Review)

February 12, 2020 by Rich Barnard in Album Reviews, Folk, Singer-Songwriter, Soul

With a matchless voice that somehow balances a DiFranco charm with a Piaf vibrato, Frazey Ford made her name as part of The Be Good Tanyas back in 1999. Two decades on, we find her three albums into a solo career that’s taken her far from those banjo-whispering beginnings and her latest, U Kin B The Sun, effectively completes a ten-year transition from folkstress to funk-soul sister.

John Moreland - LP5 (Album Review)

February 05, 2020 by Rich Barnard in Album Reviews, Americana, Singer-Songwriter

LP5 is the record John Moreland almost didn’t make. Having released his first four albums to much acclaim in just a six year period, he started to feel the pressure of having to deliver the goods. He needed time to learn to love his songcraft again and by giving himself the freedom to experiment without expectation he finally relocated his mojo. Now, three years after 2017’s Big Bad Luv, he has emerged with a new record that is - among other things - brittle, beautiful and brave.

Dustbowl Revival - Is It You, Is It Me (Album Review)

January 30, 2020 by Rich Barnard in Album Reviews, Americana, Folk

Los Angeles-based six-piece Dustbowl Revival are fronted by vocalists Z. Lupetin and Liz Beebe and their expansive, genre-mashing new album Is It You, Is It Me follows their warmly received 2017 debut. The lineup has slimmed with the departure of mandolin player Daniel Mark and bassist James Klopfleisch - though the former co-wrote several tracks here - but the reduction in personnel hasn’t impacted on the ambition and fearless kitchen-sinkery of a record that refuses stylistically to fit in. If albums by artists as disparate as Jeff Finlin, Cake and Rusted Root rub shoulders uneasily in your record collection then Dustbowl Revival could be the missing link.

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.

Sam Weber - Everything Comes True (Album Review)

January 10, 2020 by Rich Barnard in Americana, Album Reviews, Singer-Songwriter

Sometimes you have to cross borders to get your particular fix of Americana and, of late, it’s over in Canada where I’ve been getting a much needed hit of pedal steel-laden loveliness. It is a high that comes in the form of one Sam Weber, who caught my attention late in 2019 with the superb single ‘Blackout’ (see the Maple Leaf roundup #11) and whose latest album gets a UK release this week.

Jack Broadbent - Moonshine Blue (Album Review)

November 20, 2019 by David Vousden in Album Reviews, Blues, Folk, Jazz, Singer-Songwriter

With the likes of the Montreux Jazz Festival “the new master of the slide guitar” and Bootsy Collins, “The real thang” singing his praises the casual observer might be fooled into thinking that Jack Broadbent was some kind of guitar-slinging wunderkind, storming out of the bayou on a mission to destroy all with his blazing guitar work. In reality, I’m guessing it’s pretty hard to find a bayou in Lincolnshire and Jack’s obvious guitar prowess turns out to be a small part of the story.

Son Of Town Hall - The Adventures of Son Of Town Hall (Album Review)

November 06, 2019 by Rich Barnard in Acoustic, Album Reviews, Folk, Singer-Songwriter

We’ve been rather taken with transatlantic duo Son Of Town Hall since catching them at Cecil Sharp House last year (review). The pair are made up of London-based singer-songwriter Ben Parker (in a past life, one half of Ben & Jason) and Santa Fe-based singer-songwriter and author David Berkeley. Here they are, eighteen months later touring the UK once more, this time in support of their long-awaited debut LP. Their live show can’t really be translated to record (you just have to go) but the album does its best to bring the uninitiated up to speed, with the aid of its accompanying newspaper inserts in which their tale is wittily woven.

The Defiants - Zokusho (Album Review)

September 23, 2019 by Rich Barnard in Album Reviews, AOR, Classic Rock, Hard Rock, Melodic Rock

The Defiants’ 2016 debut (review link) was a safe but enjoyable outing that did plenty to satisfy Danger Danger fans in the absence of any new material since 2009’s reunion record Revolve. Alongside vocalist Paul Laine, The Defiants comprise almost three quarters of the current D2 line-up: Bruno Ravel, Rob Marcello and Steve West (The Defiants’ slightly-less-than-official fourth member). Something of a melodic rock legend in his own right, Laine was the perfect fit for Danger Danger when they parted company with Ted Poley in the ‘90s and Zokusho (it’s Japanese for ‘sequel’) proves that there’s still plenty of songwriting chemistry bubbling away between Laine and Ravel in 2019.