Our Top Six Releases May 21
Top Six Releases
May 2021
Our Top Six Releases
By Rob Dickens
John Hiatt with The Jerry Douglas Band
Leftover Feelings
New West Records
21 May 2021
In the 1980’s John Hiatt collaborated with slide guitar greats Ry Cooder and Sonny Landreth. In one sense, Leftover Feelings is a return to that boogie/bluesy tone. And yet there is something unique about the material here.
The Jerry Douglas Band’s impact on this album is profound and gels beautifully with the glorious gruff vocals and the slightly aggressive yet vulnerable lyrics. The eleven-song set was produced by Douglas and recorded at Historic RCA Studio B in Nashville. There’s no drummer which means the grooves take on an elegant lightness , yet they remain deep and true.
The collaboration follows Hiatt’s 2018 wonderful studio album The Eclipse Sessions and adds to an enduring recorded legacy.
Via Thrillhill Music
Lachlan Bryan & the Wildes
Near Misses Live
Social Family Records
9 April 2021
Lachlan Bryan & the Wildes‘ decision to release a live album during an extended COVID-lockdown in his hometown of Melbourne was inspired. The amusingly-titled Near Misses Live was born out of a healthy archive of high quality tapes and, while reminding us of what we have been missing with not being able to share these live experiences together, helps to fill that very void with material that spans Bryan’s significant career.
Via Jo Corbett Publicity
Nefesh Mountain
Songs For The Sparrows
Independent
11 June 2021
Recorded at Nashville’s historic Sound Emporium, Songs For The Sparrows was produced by band founders, husband and wife team Eric Lindberg and Doni Zasloff. Writing all but one of the fourteen tracks, the duo looked back on a life-changing trip to Eastern Europe in 2018. “We tracked down the towns where our families are from, and it was devastating to see the destruction of the Holocaust firsthand, and to know that we’re not so far removed from that time,” says Lindberg. “Songs For The Sparrows ultimately came from that experience, and from thinking about the many groups of people who are horribly discriminated against in the U.S.”
Alongside the duo for the record are long-time bandmate and fiddle player Alan Grubner, David Goldenberg on mandolin and Max Johnson on bass. Adding in a magical lineup of guest musicians including Jerry Douglas (dobro), Sam Bush (mandolin) and Bryan Sutton (guitar) and you have some visceral playing to augment the profound material.
Songs For The Sparrows is a dazzling folk/Americana collection.
Via Morris Public Relations
Parker Millsap
Be Here Instead
Okrahoma Records/Thirty Tigers/Cooking Vinyl Australia
9 April 2021
The fifth album from Oklahoma-bred singer/songwriter Parker Millsap, Be Here Instead is a bold new direction. Less structured song format and more experimental with shades of tone and gritty vocals and accompaniments – you can see it one of the singles “Dammit” below, the rush of passion, the free flow of arrangements which permeate the entire record.
Produced by John Agnello (Kurt Vile, Sonic Youth, Waxahatchee) and mainly recorded live with Millsap’s full band, Be Here Instead follows 2018’s acclaimed Other Arrangements and 2016’s The Very Last Day (an Americana Music Association Awards nominee for Album of the Year).
Via Jo Corbett Publicity
The Shootouts
Bullseye
Soundly Music
30 April 2021
The Shootouts – Ryan Humbert (lead vocals, guitar), Emily Bates (backing vocals), Brian Poston (lead guitar), Dylan Gomez (drums) and Ryan McDermott (bass) – are known for their energetic blend of honky tonk, swing and traditional country. Nominated for an Ameripolitan Music Award, they have shared the stage with Marty Stuart, Jim Lauderdale, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Radney Foster and Sheryl Crow.
Bullseye was produced by Grammy-nominee and BR549 founder Chuck Mead. When the band scheduled their recording sessions for March 2020, producer Mead said they had no idea that a tornado would rip down his street in East Nashville three days before starting, or that a worldwide pandemic was about to really kick in while they were in the studio. “In the face of all that, these folks came into the studio with good humor and tenacity and proceeded to kick major ass,” Mead said.
And kick-ass it is. Heartbreak, whiskey (as always!), regret, break-ups, the blues and missed opportunity all get the royal treatment with a vibrant medley of country and honky tonk. For the listeners though, there are no misses here. The name says it all – it hits all the right spots with fervour.
Via IVPR Nashville
Tylor & the Train Robbers
Non-Typical Find
Independent
9 July 2021
Boise, Idaho-based band Tylor & the Train Robbers, are Tylor Ketchum, his brothers Jason Bushman and Tommy Bushman and his father-in-law Johnny “Shoes” Pisano. I loved their last release 2009’s Best Of The Worst Kind and Non-Typical Find is an even greater joy. Their third release and first with an outside producer (Reckless Kelly’s Cody Braun), the sound here has some worthy additions with pedal steel, keyboards, banjo, cello, fiddle and mandolin, and Jennifer Pisano Ketchum on back-up and harmony vocals which completes the family picture nicely.
With a vibe reminiscent on the surface of Mike & The Moonpies (band comparisons are fraught I know!), Tylor et al deliver some tight rhythms which reflect the intense work they have put in on the road over many years. Roots, country, Americana spliced with wonderful harmonies and this family band exhibit a musical cohesion that is enviable.
There’s a fair wait until this album is released, but it will be worth it. In the meanwhile, listen to Best Of The Worst Kind.
Via KG Music Press
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Our Top Six Releases May 21
Our Top Six Releases May 21
Our Top Six Releases May 21
