Patterson Barrett - I Just Can’t Call It Quits  (click on image to watch video)

 5 May 2023

Patterson Barrett is someone you’ve heard without realizing you’ve heard him. He played multiple instruments on Jerry Jeff Walker’s debut album, for example, including for the hit “L.A. Freeway.” He was also in Al Kooper’s band and has accompanied many artists in and around the Austin music scene. With I Just Can’t Call It Quits, though, Barrett steps out on his own for a 10-song set. It’s a sweet and heartfelt set of songs.

As a singer, Barrett comes off as an old soul, even though he’s not as old as he sounds. He just has one of those singing voices that sounds as though he’s lived a whole lot of life. Back at the beginning of his career, Barrett started a group called Partners In Crime, which included Buddy and Julie Miller as members. Buddy Miller returns the favor by dueting with Barrett on a sad country song called “I’m Pretending,” which includes tasty guitar and fiddle coloring it.

One of the album’s standout tracks is a cover of “Soul Man.” Originally a classic soul song by Sam & Dave, Barrett gives it a sparse, guitar-y version that sounds a little like a Dire Straits workout. It incorporates plenty of electric guitar and a kind of boogie rhythm spiced up with harmonica fills.

Another notable inclusion is titled “Dream Geography.” With it, Barrett imagines a world without borders. A world where children play freely together not caring about the nationality of each other. On it, like with most of the album, Barrett played most all the instruments. He also wrote most of these songs. As a multi-instrumentalist, this DIY approach makes a lot of sense. If you want something done correctly, as they say, you should do it yourself. One exception is the fine harmonica work Doc Simons provides for “Soul Man.” With its Cajun squeezebox accompaniment, Barrett also sings a kind of love song to Southern Louisiana.

Called “Another Beautiful Day,” it bounces along nicely. The track also includes some sharp acoustic piano and a fiddle part. “Somewhere in South Austin” is an acoustic guitar driven folkish song, which is filled with lyrical memories of Austin, Texas. Barrett sings about life in South Austin, but you get the feeling he’s singing about this lifestyle from a distance but not while they’re living that kind of life. For instance, he sings about how people stay up all night, just to see the sun, but he – we’re led to believe --no longer pulls all-nighters.

Barrett closes the album with another acoustic-based song, titled “Just a Moment.” It finds a guy hoping for a few minutes just to get a grip on things. Perhaps one great moment will put a broken relationship back together. Life moves so fast, with scenes changing before we can even fully experience them, and this is a song about hoping to slow down the rush – just for a moment. The best moments in life “last a lifetime,” Barrett reminds us. He’s hoping for one of these magic moments, but not quite sure he’ll have one.

Songs are also like these special moments. They’re slices of life, sometimes far more beautiful than real life. Let’s hope Patterson Barrett is right when he says, “I Just Can’t Call it Quits,” because he has so many more moments of pure goodness left to offer the world.

Dan MacIntosh - Dan MacIntosh has been a professional music journalist for 30 years and his work has regularly appeared in many local and national publications, including Inland Empire Weekly, CCM, CMJ, Paste, Mean Street, Chord, HM, Christian Retailing, Amplifier, Inspirational Giftware, Stereo Subversion, Indie-Music, Soul–Audio, Roughstock.com, Country Standard Time and Spin.com. 

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Bruce Smith- 1000 Horses  (click on image to watch video)

05 October 2022

Bruce Smith’s 1000 Horses album opens with “Campbellton,” which rocks and rolls to a rockabilly rhythm. What follows, though, is not some sort of Stray Cats offshoot, however, but a collection of mainly country-leaning roots rock.

For example, the memory-jarring “Take a Picture” combines a chunky electric guitar groove along with empathetic fiddle. The album’s title track, “1000 Horses,” has a folk-ish tint to it, as it begins with mournful harmonica. Smith sings its words with a desperately sad vocal tone. It’s a twangy number that merges folk sounds with more distinctly country ones.

One titled “Venus Fell,” however, is the album’s most intriguing inclusion. It sounds, both vocally and melodically, like that old Frankie Avalon 1959 hit, “Venus.” It’s driven by gypsy fiddling and a lightly loping groove. Unlike Avalon’s plea to the Greek goddess of love to help him with his romantic troubles, however, Smith’s song is more about the mythological character’s personal issues.

Smith returns to the upbeat sounds initially explored with “Campbellton” for “See You in the Movies,” about a girl with big screen dreams. Smith sings it over an instrumental bed that includes both piano and organ, as well as an electric guitar solo. Although Smith rocks a bit on the song, he nevertheless rocks rather gently. His vocals have a bit of a working-class character weaved into his performance, which may remind you of early Bruce Springsteen. Its retro approach, however, comes off more like an old school description of an acting jones. It doesn’t really address the more cutthroat nature of the contemporary film world.

The project’s best shot at a hit single is “Everything I Need.” On it, Smith comes off wide open and optimistic. It’s infused with the joys of love and romance. The guitar fills mirror his happy vocals. It sounds a little like some of those great old soul songs from the ‘60s and ‘70s. The future just seemed wide open whenever these songs came over the radio. One suspects the same good vibes would be produced by this song being played on radio today. And in a perfect world, it would be all over the radio, all over the world. Speaking of happy songs, “Don’t Forget to Look Up” is a little like a positive thinking pamphlet put to music. Just as hopeful people encourage the stopping and smelling of roses, Smith doesn’t let the listener forget about the need to look up and away from sad sights. These words of encouragement are accompanied by an upbeat groove similar to a church gospel song – only a white country church, rather than an African American one. Smith closes the album with “Late Night DJ,” which is about hoping the DJ will play the right song to lift his spirits. By the language he uses, these are oldies he’s hearing that are making him feel “not so all alone.” There are times when that radio DJ can feel like your only friend. Of course, this was back when

DJs had more recognizable personalities and radio stations had more playlist flexibility. Bruce Smith sometimes sounds like he’s stuck in a time warp, back when we all lived in more innocent times. If this music is a journey back in time, though, it’s sure one pleasurable blast from the past.

Dan MacIntosh - Dan MacIntosh has been a professional music journalist for 30 years and his work has regularly appeared in many local and national publications, including Inland Empire Weekly, CCM, CMJ, Paste, Mean Street, Chord, HM, Christian Retailing, Amplifier, Inspirational Giftware, Stereo Subversion, Indie-Music, Soul–Audio, Roughstock.com, Country Standard Time and Spin.com. 

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Tornado Sky- Deluge Of Hurt (click on image to watch video)

 31 October 2022

Disaster, as a metaphor, plays a big part in this act’s overall presentation. Its group name, for instance, describes a sky view just before a tornado. Next, the album’s title track references hurricanes, as the word ‘deluge’ refers to an overflowing of the land by water, a drenching rain or an overwhelming amount or number. In other words, it’s an event that is just too much for an overcome human to handle. We all hurt, but we all – eventually – heal. However, it’s difficult to know what to do whenever the pain bowls us over and doesn’t seem to give us any way out. This, one surmises, is what Tornado Sky is singing about with this particular title track.

The album’s standout inclusion is one called “Two Beat Up Hearts,” which Gladhart sings lead on. It finds its narrator sitting at a bar, drinking her way through brokenhearted-ness. This hurt one, however, luckily found an empathetic soul on the barstool next to her at this watering hole. Both are applying alcohol therapy to their wounds. The recording includes plenty of Rusty Danmyer’s steel guitar, which gives it the lonesome, lowdown sound of a country weeper.

A couple of the other songs where Gladhart sings lead, are also quite personal. Opener, “Am I Mighty,” finds Gladhart struggling to find her identity. Over a gentle, quiet arrangement, Gladhart describes a little of her life history, wondering what it will all add up to in the end. It incorporates some especially lovely backing vocals. “Walking Next To Me” is a really sad one. “I lost my brother out of the blue,” she begins, “Cancer can do that to you.” She wastes no time in setting the scene, that’s for sure. She goes on to explain how she feels like he’s still with her, somehow. The realm of the afterlife is filled with mystery, even for those that have strong religious beliefs. Losing a sibling is one of the toughest experiences for all family members left behind.

Songs where Careaga sings lead, tend to be the most folk-ish. One called “Go,” for instance, finds Careaga trying desperately to understand the right direction to travel using the map of a relationship. What may seem like a ‘go,’ may actually be a ‘stop,’ and sometimes we don’t know the right answer until long after we’ve passed that fork in the road.

For an act with such an ominous approach, Tornado Sky sure makes impending doom sound sonically lovely. Maybe that’s the best way to face one’s fears – by creating something beautiful through music. Storms will come and go, and there’s no getting away from that or around it. Someone once said that life will always be hard. The key to growth is learning to do hard things better. Music may not heal our wounds, but it is certainly a comforting distraction, if nothing else. Tornado Sky counters the deluge of hurt with an equally powerful deluge of beautiful sounds. 

Dan MacIntosh - Dan MacIntosh has been a professional music journalist for 30 years and his work has regularly appeared in many local and national publications, including Inland Empire Weekly, CCM, CMJ, Paste, Mean Street, Chord, HM, Christian Retailing, Amplifier, Inspirational Giftware, Stereo Subversion, Indie-Music, Soul–Audio, Roughstock.com, Country Standard Time and Spin.com. 

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James Kahn - By the Risin' of the Sea  (click on image to watch video)

 11 April 2022

James Kahn’s By The Risin’ Of The Sea is a delightfully unusual album. If you listen to this release with unengaged ears, perhaps while completing another busy work task at the same time, you may completely miss out on this music’s intentional uniqueness. Sometimes, Kahn sings these songs like an old pirate who is telling tales. Ah, but while these recordings may sound like a collection of old sea shanties, they’re actually contemporary subjects – only put to old, traditional musical styles. 

Kahn might be known better to some as an Emmy-nominated TV writer-producer, as well as author. Kahn’s restless spirit is also expressed with music, though, and the new album comes with an succinct explanation of its contents and intents. “Traditionally sailors sing shanties about their struggles with the elements, their hardships and toil. These contemporary shanties address our modern crisis – climate change, covid-19, oil slicks, species dieoffs, and existential angst – with probably, black humor, and yes, even hope.” And that’s an accurate assessment! 

The album’s title track both sounds and reads like a sailor’s lament. However, it kicks off the project with lyrical commentary on climate change. It’s been said that sea level rise is happening because of added water from melting ice sheets and glaciers and the expansion of seawater as it warms. Kahn also addresses Covid-19 directly with the unsubtle “In the Covid Times.” It’s sung like a merchant marine choir, acapella, with handclaps applied for percussion. It’s also sung like a guy looking back on events that happened many years ago, when in truth, this one’s actually about much more recent times. 

It's sometimes difficult to determine Kahn’s motives for this music. Is he singing to inform non-believers about the Earth’s impending environmental disaster, or is he preaching to the choir? Or is he just expressing his deep misgivings about modern human behavior? No matter what may compel Kahn, he performs these songs with a near-religious fervor. In fact, you could replace some of its references to the Earth with the word ‘god,’ and it might well sound like a buccaneer’s gospel album, instead. 

Although Kahn applies an acapella approach more than once, however, when he accompanies himself instrumentally, it’s with traditional folk instrumentation. For instance, one titled “No More A’whalin’,” is driven by mournful banjo. Throughout the album, one hears fiddle and other acoustic instrumentation, as we;;. 

James Kahn is a little like a contemporary John the Baptist, behaving like a voice crying in the wilderness. Or some Old Testament prophet or other. Those that agree with Kahn’s clear political agenda will be heartened by these songs. He takes on some of the biggest environmental issues and puts his thoughts into enjoyably old-time music. Even if you’re not especially political, though, these sounds are built upon a solid folk music framework. 

Kahn deserves kudos for taking a creative approach to getting his message out. Granted, it contains a lot of information and some of the artist’s “angst” can be a little overwhelming at times, nevertheless, he carries it all off with plenty of passion and enthusiasm. This is serious business, and by no means any kind of Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Instead, it’s a dark and informative journey.

Dan MacIntosh - Dan MacIntosh has been a professional music journalist for 30 years and his work has regularly appeared in many local and national publications, including Inland Empire Weekly, CCM, CMJ, Paste, Mean Street, Chord, HM, Christian Retailing, Amplifier, Inspirational Giftware, Stereo Subversion, Indie-Music, Soul–Audio, Roughstock.com, Country Standard Time and Spin.com. 

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