A Bolt From The Blues

Published in the EG section of The Age (Friday March 30)
For online version, click here.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd

“I’d probably be behind the wheel of a race car,” states Kenny Wayne Shepherd emphatically when asked where he’d be if he’d never heard the blues growing up.  “I love automobiles, so I always felt if I wasn’t doing music, I’d be doing something with cars.”  It’s almost the quintessential childhood answer to the ‘What do you want to be when you grow up’ question – a race car driver, or a blues/rock guitar shredder.  Not an easy choice.

Luckily for himself perhaps, and certainly for fans of modern electric blues, the now 35-year-old Shepherd made the right decision.  Despite his young age (compared to the giants of the genre like Buddy Guy, BB King, Taj Mahal, Keb’ Mo’, Joe Louis Walker et al), Shepherd is a much respected player, and indeed, interpreter of this oldest of forms.

“Yeah, the blues is in everything I do, it’s the foundation of all my music,” he concurs, and he needn’t say more than that, as it shows – from debut record Ledbetter Heights (released in 1995 when Shepherd was just 18), to ‘Blue On Black’ the song on which he properly rose to prominence in 1997, to now releasing his sixth record, How I Go, Shepherd wears it, proudly, on his sleeve.

Having said that, How I Go, released late last year, sees this omnipresent guitarist in a state of flux.  Yes, the blues forms a base from which this music launches, but overall, the album is more considered, more mature perhaps – less shred, more thought.  “Yeah, I think so,” he muses.  “I mean, I’ve been touring and recording for two decades now and with that comes a bit of maturity.”

“It’s more [me broadening my songwriting and arranging] skills, and production skills,” Shepherd expands.  “I was really involved in this album, it’s the first one where I’ve been actually listed as a co-producer.”  He goes on to say that being “so immersed” in the record saw it move from him “constantly soloing” to “playing the right notes at the right time”, less flash, so to speak.  Playing the producer role was obviously a cathartic moment for him.

“Well yeah, I put a lot of work into this record, and I think the end result is really good,” he says, and it is.  For not only is it more mature, it’s a mark of the continuous evolution Shepherd has always strived for, within the blues he holds so dear.  Surely far more satisfying than driving a race car.

Samuel J. Fell

http://www.kennywayneshepherd.net/

Record Review - Eric Bibb

Published in the Metro section of The Sydney Morning Herald (March 23).

Eric Bibb

Deeper In The Well

DixieFrog Records / ABC Music

 

As befits his reputation as one of the finest purveyors of roots music going around, Eric Bibb delivers yet again with Deeper In The Well. It’s a record that embodies the steamy, swamp sounds of Louisiana, but still with the blues nous and folky charm he’s become known for, these years past.

Recorded in the Bayou State at fiddle player Dirk Powell’s studio, Deeper… exudes a front porch, barefoot vibe: in the sleepy shuffle of Sinner Man, the swampy Bayou Belle, the melancholy and fiddle-swept Sittin’ In A Hotel Room. Bibb and his banjo and acoustic guitar lead the charge, there are lashings of fiddle and wailing harmonica abounding and a Cajun shuffle throughout, a bit of accordion – you can almost feel the sweat, see the smiles, smell the BBQ.  A fine new addition to Bibb’s canon.

Samuel J. Fell

http://www.ericbibb.com/

Record Review - Justin Townes Earle

Published in the April issue of The Big Issue.

Justin Townes Earle

Nothing’s Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Now

Bloodshot Records / Inertia

Yet another record from troubadour Justin Townes Earle, yet another direction change from this perpetually poignant and painfully hip artist whose tumultuous past is well documented but whose musical journey is still only just beginning to unfurl.

Of course, Nothing’s Gonna Change… is still steeped in the soft country tones he rose to prominence on, it still references the dark folk stylings of Woody Guthrie and Earle’s father, Steve, but in this instance, via a smattering of subtle horn work and a sprinkling of keys throughout, Earle tags his love of Memphis soul – extremely well.

It’s not a big, bold soul statement by any means (perhaps with the exception of the rollicking R&B of ‘Baby’s Got A Bad Idea’), but the blood of Memphis, of the south, runs deep within the majority of works here; ‘Maria’ with its shimmering organ, the horn-laden ‘Memphis In The Rain’, the Otis Redding-like ‘Look The Other Way’.

And then of course, the heart-rending title track and ‘Unfortunately, Anna’, show exactly why Earle is so good with just his voice and minimal accompaniment – yet another positive step in the evolution of Justin Townes Earle.

Samuel J. Fell


http://www.justintownesearle.com/

Salt Of The Earth

Published in Inpress Magazine (Melb) - March 14.
For online version, click here (Page 44)

Nano Stern

Chilean sensation Nano Stern has been called, “one of the most in-demand international artists on the domestic festival scene”, a statement which is verified beyond a doubt by the fact Stern will, this month, embark upon his seventh Australian tour in a little over three years.  “Yeah, well, I think even maybe more, I’ve been there under different things, so maybe like ten times or something, actually I’ve lost count,” he laughs.

It’s the fiery talent he displays on guitar, the poignant turn to his deeply meaningful lyrics, his passion for not only music, but what is right and just in this turbulent world of ours that has seen him embraced by Australian audiences – I remember seeing him at the Mullum Music Festival a couple of years ago and being mesmerised by the intricate way he’d build a song, beginning with subtle melodies before bringing it all home amidst a cavalcade of power and the aforementioned passion.

It’s all of the above which has seen Stern embraced within the boundaries of his own country especially, a place where the 26-year-old can barely walk the streets without being recognised and stopped, a place where he recently played to 180,000 people as part of a protest, and a place where his song ‘La Puta Esperanza’ has been adopted as the anthem of the ongoing protest against the Chilean government’s damming of two rivers in Patagonia – Nano Stern is the voice of a generation, much loved in his home country.

“Yeah [that means a lot to me],” Stern says of ‘La Puta Esperanza’ being taken up so wholeheartedly.  “And it’s kind of written out of the same motivation, it’s a protest, it’s a scream for reason to come to people.  And I’m glad that it’s used, I’m always authorising people to use my songs in documentary films or whatever, and of course I say yes [here], it’s an honour, a privilege to be able to help through your means of expression.”

‘La Puta Esperanza’ is the first single from Stern’s latest recording, his fifth studio album, Las Torres De Sal (which translates to The Towers Of Salt) which has already been tagged by fans and critics alike as “his strongest work yet”, something with which Stern agrees.  “Yeah, I agree,” he muses.  “And for many reasons.  I think I’ve matured a lot since the last time, things have happened in my life that gave more depth, starting with the writing, the lyrics, which unfortunately people in Australia cannot really relate too (the entire record is sung in Stern’s native tongue).

“I’ve also taken the freedom to explore different things in between the last album and this one,” he adds, “but also something which makes a huge difference is the way that we produced it.  It’s like a process – the first album I recorded everything myself, the second was pretty much the same but with some guests, on the third one it was the band playing but it was click tracked, but with this one we went hardcore and recorded old school, completely live in the studio, there is no dubbing at all.”

I’m interested to know how he found this recording process then, given it’s not something he’d done before, either by himself, or when collaborating with other artists.  “Well, it’s an actual recording, it’s not a studio magic thing,” Stern reasons.  “You can hear the music breathe a lot more, it feels more organic somehow.”

Organic is a fine way to describe Las Torres De Sal – it seems to seep from the earth itself, the music as real as the motives behind the songs contained within.  Organic is also a fine word to describe Stern’s rise to prominence here in Australia – from small beginnings to multiple tours in only a few years, and you can bet he’ll grace these shores a great deal more down the track.

Samuel J. Fell

http://www.myspace.com/nanostern

Record Review - Fiona Boyes

Published in the March issue of Australian Guitar.

Fiona Boyes

Blues For Hard Times

Blue Empress Records / Only Blues Music

The Queen of Australian Blues returns here with Blues For Hard Times, a record which shows exactly why Fiona Boyes has laid claim to the aforementioned title for so long.  With an ease born of playing this music for years, Boyes strolls through a selection of mainly original tunes – simple fingerpicked, down-home numbers, a bit of N’Awlins swing thrown in, a shuffle here, a rag there, there’s nary a note wrong with this one.

And it’s the playing which holds this one up – lyrically, it’s great and Boyes’ voice is as fine as ever, but that simple guitar style of hers is what breaks through and shines.  Whether playing resonator, acoustic or electric, Boyes makes it real, she makes it shimmer, plus with the addition of the legendary Bob Margolin on a track or two, this is the mark of a great blues record.

Samuel J. Fell

Record Review - Blue Shaddy

Published in the March issue of Australian Guitar.

Blue Shaddy

Across The Road

Independent / Only Blues Music

The first thing that’ll strike you about Across The Road, the fifth album from WA rootsters Blue Shaddy, is how comparatively low key it is.  Their last effort, 2008’s Bury My Ghost, was a foot-stomper to be sure, as their live set is in spades, whereas this one seems to be quieter, more considered, a lot more subtle.

The slide playing of frontman Jim McClelland is, for the most part, very much an accompaniment to his voice and the harmonica work from brother Belly is the same, save for a few choice ‘freak outs’ here and there.  This strikes me as an odd move for the group, as they’ve built their rep as a pretty high-octane act, particularly in the early days when they sported two percussionists.  Still, it’s delivered with feeling and passion making for a solid, albeit rather reticent, result.

Samuel J. Fell

Record Review - Dom Turner & Ian Collard

To be published in the Metro section of the Sydney Morning Herald (March 16)

Dom Turner & Ian Collard

Mama Thinks We're Crazy Too

Fuse Music Australia

With an evident deep respect for hill country blues, Backsliders guitarist Dom Turner and harmonica extraordinaire Ian Collard team up here to pay homage to this most primal of genres, and to one of its icons, ‘Mississippi’ Fred McDowell.

Tunes from the likes of McDowell, Blind Willie McTell, Sleepy John Estes and Leadbelly (whose version of ‘Gallows Pole’ this pair reinvent in their own ragtag style) adorn the set, lovingly recreated and stamped with the trademark sound these two have forged over decades of playing this music; Collard’s rolling harp work, Turner’s rusty-stringed style of playing, adding to these classic tunes an invigorated sense of urgency.

Turner and Collard show here why they’re at the forefront of blues in the modern age, re-crafting these songs with a passion that will never die.

Samuel J. Fell

Mama Thinks We're Crazy Too is available now through FUSE Music Australia.

http://backsliders.com.au/dom-turner-ian-collard/