“The Music Spectrum Got Behind” Lists: Country-influenced Rock – Part 2The CDs That Didn’t Get Reviewed Last Year

You can find the best-of year-end lists in most music publications. Rather than rehashing what was already reviewed and discussed last year, Music Spectrum is going deep into the stacks of CDs received last year. And yeah, I’ll admit it. I got behind on the reviews, but I didn’t want you to miss some good music!

In 2003, Twah! released the third volume of Seka [“Sister”], “a songwriters benefit for the SEKA Recreation House for Women and Children.” Raising money for this agency which serves those traumatized by the war in the former Yugoslavia, these compilations presented by Blue Rhythm magazine feature incredible tracks from artists worldwide. Like any compilation album, slotting Seka Vol. 3 in the Country-influenced Rock section is by no means representative of every artist. Yet, it certainly rings true for Lonesome Bob, Caitlyn Cary, One Bar Town, Michael Weston King, and others. The folk songstress Amy Rigby lays out “Don’t Ever Change” with a little Country in the picked bass notes and a pop song’s chorus. From some brooding corner comes Kevin Salem’s “Trip Down Ladders” (a little Grand Drive, a little Ralston). Already mentioned for his contribution to the Styx tribute album, Tom Freud here gives us “Rebecca”—a lilting song portrait with a jazzy-feel. Obviously outside of the Country-influenced Rock realm, the Popes rock on the traditional Irish influenced “Are You Looking at Me.” Despite their name, the Brooklyn Cowboys have just as much punk energy as Country on their “I Was Wrong.”

New back in 2001, but new to me in 2004, Adam Snyder’s Across the Pond features some tender Americana recorded in South London. The opener, “Two Moons,” find Snyder in high-toned croon. That track almost gives the wrong impression, though, because many of the other songs retain a Country-influence while being at singer-songwriter folk songs at the heart. Add the contributions of Snyder’s multiple instruments, plus guest musicians, then you’ve got Country folk groove and indie rock somewhere in the vicinity as on “Up the River.” There’s also Snyder’s quirky persona coming through on “Leaves of Grass” and “Mike & Me.” “Bare Bones” picks a little bluegrass-like ditty. Finally, contemplate getting old with Snyder on the brooding, harmonica-crying, rising action of “On Hold”—which contains the line: “A symphony in a young man’s heart that the world will never know/Then there’s this sh*t that they call music when they put you on hold.” Two Moons is released by HTI Records.

Junior Brown rocks the country stage with his gitsteel—an instrument he invented combining electric and steel guitars. The result is a surf rock overtone for his Country music which sometimes has a speed metal pace. There’s a little bit of Junior Brown in the music of The Carburetors, especially on “Quarter Machines,” with its distorted, full-bodied guitar lead. Mark Warwick’s lead guitar and Scott Sharpe’s steel guitar clang the bell on “Huntsville” as Duke Domingue’s double bass lays down the train track rhythm. The steel guitar drenched “Vodka Says. . .” makes a clever drinking song. The band brings in Phil Johnson for mandolin on “August 13, 1903 (Saluda Grade),” a disaster song with a bluegrass feel. The bluegrass style continues on “Good-Sized Girl,” a nice melody, good banjo (Paul Eaton), close harmonies, and all as a tribute to overweight women. Y’all Don’t Tell My Mama I Was Here is released by Chicken-fried Music.

Featured Year-End Country-influenced Rock List Title

I left the home improvement warehouse store wishing I had a pickup truck. One, I needed a truck to carry all of the stuff I had gotten for all of the home repairs I at least thought I could do. Two, I was rocking out to Tom Gillam’s Shake My Hand, the kind of a Country-influenced Rock that just needs to be blaring from a rusty old pickup truck. As Gillam bluesed up his slide guitar on “Outside the Lines,” I drove to the auto parts store. Again, I was outside of my element; I hardly know anything about cars or car repair. It seemed a match to what was going on musically—I felt a little outside my element listening to the Country rock of Gillam. That’s not my usual bag. However, the CD moved onto track 2, “Disappearing Act,” a heart-baring song recalling John Hiatt. I started to feel a little more comfortable. I kept dreaming about the pickup truck, but here’s a Country-influenced Rock artist that might just also be a sensitive singer-songwriter type, the kind of music that also works in a city intellectual’s sedan. “Take It Easy on Me” works that blues/country connection, with “Shake My Hand” even getting a little of that swamp blues feel. Jump on the highway with Gillam for “Your Parting Gift,” which is all slide guitar and piano boogie surely inspired by the Southern rock of Lynyrd Skynyrd. So I took my auto parts home (windshield wipers), drove my sedan (Pontiac Grand Am), but kept the music rocking.
Shake My Hand is released by 95 North Records.

Having enjoyed 2002’s See the Morning In, I was eager to hear Grand Drive’s 2004 release, The Lights in This Town are Too Many to Count.. True to form, the album starts with tender, fragile twang on “Love and the Truth,” building to an rock instrumental bridge. The single, “Maybe I’m a Winner,” continues Grand Drive’s fine ability to create narratives out of just a few chords. “Lady of Mine (West Pier 2003)” has a cowboy harmonica, bringing in the flickering campfire light of the Old West. Jumping out of these quiet side Country melodies is “I Won’t Let You Down” with a bit of cha-cha, boom-chicka, and soul. Then “These Aren’t Words (I’m just gonna write)” adds a little Britpop to get the band moving. Yet, Grand Drive’s sound and appeal is most markedly apparent on “The Real Thing,” a little bit of the groove undergirding those nasal, twang harmonies and Country-influenced Rock with a simmering guitar solo. The Lights in This Town… is released by Gravity Records. A limited number of The Lights in This Tune. . ., a collection of the demo recordings for the album, may also be available.

Thanks to all of the albums for the review copies.