I have been a fan of Jesse Malin’s work since he released The Fine Art of Self-Destruction in the U.S. back in 2003. So, I was particularly excited to hear that Lucinda Williams was producing his latest album, Sunset Kids.
The album also features a duet with Malin and Williams. The song is “Room 13.” Malin explained to Rolling Stone that that song is about loneliness: “Music can be a great way to hide the pain and loneliness, but sometimes you’ve gotta deal with it head on. ‘Room 13’ is that place far away from the distractions, the noise and the telephone zombies. It’s a place where you’re forced to reflect on what really matters most.” Check it out.
Malin’s album Sunset Kids will hit the Internet on August 30, 2019 on Wicked Cool Records.
Unfortunately, I did not discover Richmond Fontaine until they released their final full-length album in 2016, You Can’t Go Back If There’s Nothing To Go Back To. The alt-country band began touring in 1994 in the Pacific Northwest area and released a number of albums with wonderful music. One of my favorite songs remains “Wake Up Ray,” which appeared on their 2016 album.
In the song, the singer recalls that he once was married and living in Montana. He recounts that things went well until they didn’t, and “she got to where she couldn’t stand our place/ She got to where she cringed at the way I slept and ate.”
Then the singer tells us how he bought her a bird called “Little Joe,” leading to a story of how his wife released the bird in a rage.
Wake up Ray, the sun’s coming up and still I can’t stop thinking, How can someone you love so much grow against you so? All I did, all I did was try to toe that line; The same line you see everyone else toe; Now all I remember is running through the snow, Looking for Little Joe as the wind blowed .
“Wake Up Ray” is a beautiful song, intertwining a simple domestic incident into the broader tapestry of a dissolving relationship. It is not surprising that the song contains such memorable images, as lead singer and songwriter Willy Vlautin is also an acclaimed author.
Today, Vlautin plays with the band The Delines, featuring Amy Boone on lead vocals. The rest of Richmond Fontaine included Dave Harding, Paul Brainard, Joe Davis, and Stuart Gaston. Check out all of their albums.
What is your favorite Richmond Fontaine song? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Pete Berwick released his sixth studio album this year, Island (2019), that showcases his signature sound. Berwick has been performing and releasing music for a long time, including 2007’s Ain’t No Train Out of Nashville. Often labeled as an Americana or alt-country artist, Pete Berwick creates music that reflects punk, rock, and country influences. And in is spare time, he also has written novels and appeared on America’s Got Talent as a stand-up comic, Tony Baloni.
But we are here to talk about the music. And Island delivers a group of high-quality country-influenced rock songs. Below is the title track, “Island.”
Berwick achieved some success in Chicago as the frontman for the cow-punk band Pete Berwick and Interstate in the 1980s. Later, he headed the country-rock band Nashville Underground in Nashville. But after some success with acting and too much frustration with the music business, he left music behind in 1995, only to eventually return to it in 2001.
Now, with several albums since then, Berwick showcases his country-punk-rock influences on Island. Another one of my favorite tracks on the album is “Anyway.”
Berwick’s voice is in fine form after all these years, and his backing band on the album, The Mugshot Saints, sounds great. Berwick, who wrote all of the songs on Island, has never achieved the level of success he deserves. But hopefully he will add to his long-time hardcore fans with the new album.
Island is available on Bandcamp, Amazon, and other places where you get your music.
What is your favorite song on Island? Leave your two cents in the comments.
In the new song from Bruce Springsteen’s upcoming album Western Stars, the singer is waiting for his lover on the “Tucson Train.” The song further showcases the 70s singer-songwriter sound of the new album.
In “Tucson Train,” the singer has left behind the “pills and the rain” of San Francisco, out to find a new life in Tucson. And now he is waiting for his love to follow him there and arrive on the train.
Although he keeps repeating that she’s coming on the train, a listener might wonder whether it is wishful thinking based on some of the other lyrics. In recounting his past life, he says “seemed all our our love was in vain.” And he adds, “We fought til nothin’ remained.”
He finds relief in hard work and the “hard sun” of Arizona. Now, he explains, ” I’ll wait all God’s creation / Just to show her a man can change/ Now my baby’s coming in on the Tucson train.”
The music sounds more hopeful than despairing. My bet is that she is on that train.
The album Western Stars hits the Internet on June 14, 2019.
Speaking of trains, check out this post on one of Springsteen’s all-time great songs that uses train imagery. What do you think of Springsteen’s new song? Leave your two cents in the comments.
When I bought Marty Brown’s fourth album Here’s to the Honky Tonks when it was released in 1996, little did I know I would have to wait more than twenty years for a new official release from a record company. Since I lamented his disappearance from the national music scene on Chimesfreedom in a 2011 article, Brown has returned to the national scene in a number of ways, including a successful run on America’s Got Talent in 2013. And now, after the release of some outstanding independent releases in the last several years, he has a wonderful new full album, American Highway (2019). The album features a range of music styles and includes several immediate classics.
The album, released by Plowboy Records, features ten songs Brown co-wrote with Jon Tiven (including one with Marty Brown Jr.). Tiven also co-produced the album. Although Brown is probably best known for traditional country songs, here he shows off his vocal and songwriting strengths with a range of styles. While his voice always adds a country touch, on this album Brown croons, he rocks, he inspires, he breaks your heart, he shakes, he gets the blues, and he shows he knows his way around a catchy pop song.
Marty Brown Rocks
The album includes tracks that are perfect for a live show. One may imagine Brown closing a performance with a couple of the rockers, which include “I’m On a Roll (Better Than It’s Ever Been),” “Shaking All Over the World,” and “Right Out of Left Field.” The latter song even ends with Brown saying, “Don’t forget to turn out the lights” over a driving guitar, leading one to imagine him walking offstage. Throw in “When the Blues Come Around” as an encore, and you can practically see the lighters and cell phone lights swaying in the crowd.
These are all solid songs. “Shaking All Over the World” and its “Na-na-na na’s” sounds like it could have been on a Bruce Springsteen album. “I’m On a Roll,” co-written with Tiven and Marty Brown Jr., further shows Brown’s songwriting skills run in the family.
The talking blues “Casino Winebego” tells a fun story with a great groove. The first single, “Umbrella Lovers,” is a sweet love song inspired by when Brown got caught in the rain with his wife Shellie while they were in New York City.
The opening title track “American Highway” aims to be an anthem with a catchy chorus. One reviewer, who loves the album, has complained that this song’s cliches and flag-waving are “lazy.” Inspired by the highway near where Brown lives, a song with “America” in its title in 2019 creates certain expectations. So I can see a fan wishing that this song included additional verses to encompass a broader portrait of the country. But I still find myself singing along.
Three Instant Classics
“Kentucky Blues” is an immediate country classic. It is a beautiful song about heartbreak: “My baby’s gone and I’m all alone / I’ve got those Kentucky blues.” Select this one on the jukebox and it would make George Jones cry in his beer (as well as want to record the song). Perfect.
The album ends with two songs with great pop-country hooks that show off Brown’s talented singing voice at its best. “Velvet Chains” is a beautiful lament of one leaving his lover behind.
Brown’s songwriting often justifies comparisons to another talented songwriter who knew his way around a catchy hook, John Denver. Here, one may see Denver’s influence on the thematic elements of “Velvet Chains,” inviting comparisons to Denver’s “Leaving On a Jet Plane” (and perhaps some connection in the title to Denver’s “I’d Rather Be a Cowboy (Lady’s Chains)”).
And then there is “Mona Lisa Smiles.” After repeated listening of the album, I have fallen for this song.
“Mona Lisa Smiles” is a beautiful song about changing times, mortality, and the persistence of art. Recounting the temporary nature of our lives and everything in it, the singer reminds us, “Still, through it all/ From her frame on the wall/ Mona Lisa Smiles.”
When the strings back up Brown’s powerful voice, you know that like Mona Lisa, he is a survivor. Black Francis (former frontman of the Pixies and who many years ago recorded a fantastic duet with Brown) also provides backing vocals. This one is a fantastic song and recording.
Marty Brown Perseveres
Overall, American Highway is a great return to form and a worthwhile addition to Brown’s other classic albums. If I had one complaint, it would be that the album only has ten songs, especially considering Brown has many great songs that have yet to appear on an album. Among that group, he has a number of songs I consider to be among the greatest country songs of the last thirty years, including “Leaving Side of Me,” “The Devil Was an Angel Too,” and “My Love Will Follow You.” Another great song, “Whatever Makes You Smile,” did appear on Brown’s excellent privately released album, Country Strong in 2013.
That is a small quibble, and I realize that there may be legal rights issues to these unreleased songs. But I want more, and I want the world to hear more. The more Marty Brown music in the world, the better.
The music industry has changed drastically since Brown’s 1990s albums. When Brown last released an album through a record label, you could easily go to a record store and buy the CD. And many artists could make a living selling records. Neither is true today.
In today’s streaming and digital world, albums play a different role in an artist’s career. But we are lucky that Brown survived to provide his fans with another outstanding album and that he continues to perform.
His art lives on. And Marty Brown makes us smile.
What do you think of American Highway? Leave your two cents in the comments.
