Flatland Cavalry (from Songs to Keep You Warm available as a self-release) (by Lee Zimmerman)
 
With a telling title like Songs to Keep You Warm, the Texas sextet that call themselves Flatland Cavalry prove that even a hard-bitten band can make a sound that offers comfort and assurance even in the darkest, most dire times. Granted the new EP isn’t intended as a remedy for the world’s problems, but with winter coming on, it could be considered a campfire companion to keep the cold at bay. Written by the band’s lead singer Cleto Cordero, it mostly conveys a solitary sound, one that’s both mellow and melodic given its consistent tug on the heartstrings.
 
The band — bandleader and chief lyricist Cleto Cordero, guitarist Reid Dillon, bassist Jonathan Saenz, drummer Jason Albers, fiddle player Wesley Hall, and recent newcomer utility instrumentalist Adam Gallegos — is augmented on the Songs to Keep You Warm by background vocals from special guests Ashley Monroe and Kaitlin Butts. Nevertheless, its arrangements are considerably more stripped down from those heard on their earlier efforts, Homeland Insecurity, Humble Folks, and Welcome to Countryland. Where the earlier project reflected a good-ole-boy persona well stacked with a certain country credence, the new EP comes across as both personal and profound, with the majority of the tracks — “How Long”, “Mountain Song”, “Damaged Goods”, “If We Said Goodbye”, and “Show Me Which Way to Go” included — sharing a pensive perspective underscored by remembrance and reflection.  There’s are frequent references to loneliness, heartbreak, and regret, but the music remains uncommonly beautiful throughout. Cordero has a gift for creating detailed soundscapes that not only set a scene, but allow the listener to empathize with the emotions expressed through them as well.
 
Ultimately then, Songs to Keep You Warm does all its title suggests, with a calm and caress that moots even its sadness and circumspect. It’s hard to imagine more tender trappings.  (by Lee Zimmerman)
 
 
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The Stone Foxes (from the album On the Other Side available as a self-release) (by Bryant Liggett) 
The Stone Foxes carry a lot of descriptor cards. Indie, Blues, and Electric Roots are all apt identifiers of sound, and it would be fair to nod to their hometown of San Francisco when tossing a little Psychedelic Rock into the mix. Psychedelic in 2022 is, however, a far cry from the Rock music in the Summer of Love, where the accents were a party favor and not an ingredient within the sound. The Stone Foxes latest, On the Other Side, does a little dance around the 2022 Psych Rock world of fuzz and power-chords while also plunging into the aforementioned genres, balancing all of them and then some with musical ease.
There’s also a hard Indie Pop flair courtesy of album opener “Faded (Bye Bye Baby)”, a cut that rolls into “Help Me Now” where angelic backing vocals add a slight touch of Gospel. “Mans’s Red Fire” is a cut with wonderful, introductory theatrics, there’s a great, club and dance vibe within “Norah Jones” and “Say My Name” is a blast of desert noir, where the psychedelic melodies become a mysterious score.
Album closer in “Time Is a Killer” is the perfect, anthemic song to describe the band. It’s a fun, fist pumper with trippy leanings, a cut that would sell the band to millions that would be perfect in a club or even blowing up a stadium Rock show.  Which on an album like On the Other Side loaded with hooks and potential hits is where The Stone Foxes could be headed. (by Bryant Liggett)
 
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War Hippies (from War Hippies on War Hippies LLC) (by Lee Zimmerman)
 
Despite the fact that War Hippies’ eponymous debut marks their first foray into the recording world, it provides a decidedly despondent view of the things that accompany the first flush of fame and success. Opening track “Killin’ It” sums up those conflicting feelings precisely:
 
‘Another sold out show,
Out here on the road,
Got a little fame,
Working with some big names,
Everybody says I’m on my way
Write up in Rolling Stone…
Everybody says I’m killing it…
But I’m feeling nothing at all…’

One would think that it’s too early to feel such dire disappointment, especially given the fact they seem to be on an upward roll. Nevertheless, the duo — Scooter Brown and Donnie Reis — seemed resigned to the reality that even early acclaim can brings with it its own set of obstacles   Both war vets, they maintained separate careers touring the world alongside such luminaries as Randy Travis, Travis Tritt, and Charlie Daniels before banding together. Those experiences inform their work, and infuse songs such as “The Hangman” (‘dead man walking’), a turgid take on Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game”, the forlorn “No Friend of Mine”, and the quiet, contemplative “Leavin’ Sense” with sobering tones and, at times, even darker despair. Reis’ violin infuses the music with its dramatic designs, but it’s the feeling of remorse and reflection that leave the most lingering impressions. 
 
That said, “Make It Out Alive” shares the renewed faith that comes when one is given a second chance to show appreciation for the people in their life. Brief instrumental snippets of “Amazing Grace” and “The Star-Spangled Banner” underscore that spiritual sensibility. So too, the tender, touching ballads  “Believer” and “Promises” suggest that hope and fulfillment may not be so far out of reach after all.  Other offerings — “American Son” in particular — share a determined drive and delivery, conveying the same rugged regimen plied by other heartland heroes — Fogerty, Mellencamp, Seder, and Springsteen, among them.

Ultimately, War Hippies makes for a powerful initial effort, although some may find it a challenging listen given its pervading melancholia. Hopefully with future efforts, these self-described hippies will find an equally riveting reason to rejoice. (By Lee Zimmerman)
 
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The Foreign Landers (from the album Travelers Rest available on Tin Foil Studios) (by Bryant Liggett)
The Foreign Landers are an appropriately titled outfit. David and Tabitha Benedict find one another in each other’s country of origin, making both foreign landers. David hails from South Carolina while Tabitha calls Northern Ireland her birthplace. Their debut Travelers Rest, named for the couple’s base in the Carolinas, uses music familiar in each locale to create a sound that’s both southern Folk Bluegrass and Irish Folk mixed with Celtic tones. The Foreign Landers open with a road song, “Traveler”, a warm cut with subtle but driving Newgrass banjo and drifting mandolin pushing a track that lyrically explores all the elements of a human drifting far from home.
“Should I Go” has wonderful Bluegrass experimentation and instrumental exploration, and those instrumental chops roll over into Celtic goodness in “Johnny’s Peacock-The Red-Tailed Hawk”. There’s an airy use of pedal steel guitar in the gentle, pulsing “We’ll Be Fine” while both David and Tabitha’s harmonies on “Sunny Side of the Mountain” come off as weary, and as a result wonderful. This cut, like all of the song included on Travelers Rest, is loaded with feeling.
Travelers Rest is quiet and quaint, a record so soft you can rest your head on it like a pillow. The Benedicts have also created an equal pairing of the sounds of their homelands, and with players like John Doyle and Brittany Haas (among others) in the musical mix, they’ve created a World Music Folk package of stellar songwriting and shining instrumentation. (by Bryant Liggett)
 
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Buffalo Killers (from the album Stay Tuff on Alive NaturalSound Records) (by Lee Zimmerman)

Buffalo Killers chose to open their vaults with a collection of heretofore unreleased tracks that further elaborate on a sound best described as a throw-back to the music made in the late ‘60s and ‘early ‘70s. In a more specific sense, it’s drawn from the bands that defined West Coast rock back in the day — Buffalo Springfield, Moby Grape, and Grateful Dead being among the most obvious.

Yet even despite its disparate origins, the songs hold together remarkably well. The cohesive melodies, flush with their surging rhythms, synched guitars and anthemic refrains, provide each offering with the resilience and resolve Buffalo Killers typically ingrain in each effort.
While Stay Tuff implies some sturdy sentiment, the music retains an assurance and accessibility that’s well in keeping with the dayglo appeal that was once intrinsic to that iconic era which provides the band with its inspiration. Although the material was initially relegated either to B-side status or omitted entirely, the collection still stands up to the work found on their earlier albums. “Don’t You Ever Think I Cry” belies the sorrow the song’s title might suggest, courtesy of the perky rhythms and upturned attitude. The ballad “Love Is Gold” sounds like an outtake from The Beatles’ Abbey Road or White Album, just as “Huma Bird” might have been one of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s more obscure offerings. The solid stomp of “Still Water Runs Deep”, the semi-psychedelic strains of “Good Feeling”, and the spiraling refrain within the aptly-dubbed “Heavy Makes You Happy (Sha Na Boom Boom Yeah)” elevated the enticement of a set of songs that often seem borne from another era, but even so, come across as fresh and resilient as well.
If Stay Tuff was meant to reflect Buffalo Killer’s drive and durability, suffice it to say it succeeds in more than name alone. As far as the overall scope of the band’s catalog is concerned, it might easily be considered an essential collection.
(by Lee Zimmerman)
 
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Stephen McCarthy and Carla Olson (from the album Night Comes Calling as a self-release)  (by Lee Zimmerman)
 
Night Comes Calling brings together two forebears of the L.A. Paisley Underground/Roots Rock revival scene of the late '70s and early '80s. Stephen McCarthy, one-time helmsman of The Long Ryders and several of its successors, and Carla Olson, famously known as the singer of the Textones and her partnership with ex Byrd Gene Clark, make a naturally compatible musical couple, given that their roots so obviously intertwine.
 
That being the case, Night Comes Calling sounds like it was spawned from some shared archives, hewing mostly to a sound that brings that alt-country rock regimen solidly to the fore. That's especially evident in the rousing, rambunctious rocker “We Gotta Split This Town,” the album’s opening tack and the sturdy honkytonk of “Brink of the Blues,” courtesy of the sway of its pedal steel guitar.
 
Yet while certain songs — “Just to Get to You” and “One That Got Away”, the latter a cowrite by Chris Hillman and Pete Knobler — maintain that upbeat approach, most of thematic opt for more emotional engagement. It seems inevitable that the pair would reprise Gene Clark’s “I Remember the Railroad,” a track lifted from the recently released various artists compilation Americana Railroad, which Olson herself helped oversee, and as such, its tender tones make for a fitting finale. The heartfelt title track, a reflective and reassuring “Broken Lullaby”, the Beau Brummels’ countrified classic classic “Don’t Talk to Strangers”, and the calming caress shared by “Long Way Back to the Seventies” keep the mellow mood intact.
 
It’s hardly surprising then that the pair reflect their roots and ensure they remain intact, even while maintaining their own prominent profile. It’s retro to a degree but one shouldn’t be surprised. Given the legacy they share, it’s clearly a credible calling. (By Lee Zimmerman)
 
 
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With a Superb New Album, The White Buffalo Proves Yet Again He’s A Rare Breed
The White Buffalo interview with Lee Zimmerman
 
Jake Smith, aka The White Buffalo, is as unpredictable as his somewhat obtuse moniker might suggest but he wouldn’t have it any other way. Over the course of his eight studio albums, he’s consistently defied categorization, thumbing his nose at those that would try to pigeonhole him in any one particular genre. His new album, Year of the Dark Horse, bears that out, given a set of songs that reflect such various and disparate influences as Tom Waits, ELO, Daniel Lanois, Bruce Springsteen, and any number of Americana references as well. A follow-up to The White Buffalo’s highly lauded previous album On The Widow’s Walk, it reaffirms the fact that The White Buffalo remains a singular breed, one whose passion for making music and pursuing his muse not only broaches boundaries, but effectively also ignores them entirely.
 
Nevertheless, Jake Smith admits that the new album did present him with a number of challenges, most of which were instigated by producer Jay Joyce, owner/operator of Nashville’s Neon Cross Studios, a man with whom The White Buffalo found himself working with for the first time.  Joyce threw several ideas at the band — Smith, bassist/keyboard player/ guitarist Christopher Hoffee, and drummer Matt Lynott — creating a topsy turvy sort of scenario that made sheer unpredictability a key factor in the album’s inception.
 
‘He really pushed us’ Smith recalls. ‘It was like, we went to war, every day, but we won. I wasn't terribly prepared for it, so I was writing as we were going along. Nobody knew the songs coming in. It was very spontaneous and very experimental. And challenged us on every level. He put us on instruments that we weren't comfortable with, that we didn't really know how to play. He would have me singing in really strange ways to kind of take my body out of things. He had me sometimes sit down on a couch, in a really low-riding couch, and put the microphone in between my legs. I was hunched over my body, and that took a lot of my power away, just kind of cooled things out. But, still, he was amazing. He's really beyond any producer that I ever worked with before. He really pushed us to get special performances and unique sounds and twists and turns. And he really drove a lot of it’.
 
While one might wonder what that did to his psyche, The White Buffalo insists he was happy to go along. 
 
‘I fully trusted him, and whatever his ideas were, however odd or kind of off color they might have appeared initially, they always seemed to kind of land in the right place and really work. There was kind of an unwavering trust in Jay. We would be done at the end of the day, not even knowing what the hell we did. It was just this kind of seven, eight-hour whirlwind of recording, doing live stuff, but then overdubbing and just the way we would set up. We would set up drums for an hour and then Jay would go, ‘Everybody can make drum sound good, right?’ And he’d go and grab a child's kit and mic it up with one single mic and put it through a Marshall amp and then record it.  He was just doing some really unique kind of things to get different tones, to get different kinds of a sonic palette, things I've never really gone after before’.
 
Despite the unexpected elements involved, Jake Smith said it suited him just fine, and affirmed the fact that he wouldn’t need to confine himself to any specific regimen. 
 
‘I wanted to push everything, and kind of abandon genre’ he says in hindsight. ‘People always want to put me in a box, whether it’s a Country box or an Americana box or something like that, which I never really thought I belonged in. So, I felt like this is a unique thing. This is what I aim for’.
 
Unlike some artists that fight for control and resist the directives offered by an outside producer, The White Buffalo has never had those issues. That proved to be the case the last time around with On the Widow’s Walk when Shooter Jennings sat behind the boards. It proved true once again during the current go-round.
 
‘Going into this, I met with a handful of producers’ Smith recalls. ‘And when I met Jay and hung out with him and talked music and talked about the concept I really wanted to achieve on this album, it was apparent that he was the guy. The only priority was for me to just finish the songs and kind of get the whole scope and arc of the story and the narrative, as well as to just explore all these new sounds and ideas. Yeah, at times it could be uncomfortable. We would argue about shit, but it wasn’t like I wouldn’t do something or we wouldn't compromise. In fact, I would just do what he said. I wanted to do something beyond what I've done in the past. I thought that he was someone that could help guide us and ultimately, we were all in’.
 
Happily, then, Smith says he’s satisfied with the results. ‘I really wanted to push things, to go to extremes and make kind of a headphones album, where you could sit down and listen to it in its entirety. It's really made to be consumed in one sitting, but at the same time, at the heart of everything, the fact that these are good songs, with the emotional impact. I'm always trying to just hit you in the heart or hit you in the head. And I think the songs kind of stand-alone as well as kind of a grander, larger piece’.
 
Still, The White Buffalo understands that the album may not be so easy to grasp by those with shorter attention spans or those that need to easily categorize the music from the get-go.
 
‘I'm not worried about that’ he insists. ‘I think it might take some people some time to get into it, but I also think that my core fanbase will come around to it, and appreciate it for what it is. It may be somewhat shocking for some people, initially, but now that I’ve listened to it, it doesn’t even seem strange or off-color or very different at all. But it might take some people some time to get into it, and others, well, they’ll just go along for the ride’.

Surprisingly, for an album that boasts such disparate elements, Smith admits that he didn’t come into the project with a lot of preparation.
 
‘I am a procrastinator’ he said, ‘and unless I'm really pressured to do something, I put things off. And in this situation, I wasn't entirely prepared. It was the opposite of being prepared, kind of, but as it went along, the pressure was eased and the creative muse and just having to get it done and having it be as good as possible and make every word count kicked in, my goal was to try to hit people in the heart. I work well under pressure. We ended up doing this album in only eleven days’.
 
At the same time, he was determined to defy any preconceived notions of who or what The White Buffalo is or aspires to be.
 
‘I've been so caged by this idea that my sound is acoustic guitar and voice and heartfelt songs’ he muses. ‘I started to abandon that with On the Widow’s Walk, the album we did with Shooter (Jennings). It's been a long journey, and it's always been an upward climb, a slow growth. I was lucky enough to get a few TV licensing deals, but those are really the only thing that helped expand my base, other than touring and word of mouth. I’ve taken a very old school approach to building a fan base. But it's always kind of growing. And hopefully with this album, we'll grow even more and reach people that we haven’t reached before’.

Of course, the question arises as to how Smith chose his handle but being the gracious guy he appears, he doesn’t seem to mind repeating the story.

‘I honestly wanted it to be something bigger than just, you know, my name, Jake Smith’ he allowed. ‘You can't really sell many T shirts with that name. I wanted something grander than that could always be. It could be just me solo, it could be something with an ensemble, with a band, but I just wanted it to be something larger with a little more… mysticism. The idea that it's bigger than just kind of one person’.

Nevertheless, he admits that the name came about in a more or less unambiguous way.
 
‘It's a stupid story’ he confides.  ‘I think it was like an email chain, like, from my buddy or whatever, 25 years ago. He was like, ‘Man, you need a stage name. And then some people threw a couple of names in the hat. And I saw that one. I was like, oh, ‘That's the one. That's perfect.’ There’s a mythical kind of rarity in the white buffalo, one that’s attached to American Indians. It was just the idea that it's something rare and unique’.
 
In that regard, The White Buffalo may not be on a stampede, but Smith is convinced that he can connect with listeners regardless.
 
‘The audience and performer relationship are something that's important to me’ Smith concedes. ‘That’s something that feeds my artistry and affects the way I think. It’s important to have a show where people cry at some point, where people dance at another point, and, where there’s the extremes of all the emotions and the roller coaster ride that we can take people on. I think that’s especially true in a live setting. I believe people appreciate that, and I feel like they’re getting it from us. We never simply phone it in’. (Lee Zimmerman)
 
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Ruthie Foster (from the album Healing Time available on Blue Corn Music) (by Brian Rock)
Blues icon, Ruthie Foster, administers a dose of musical medicine on her ninth album, Healing Time. With arrangements that are lusher and more polished than her previous releases, this album skews more Motown than Chess, but Foster’s majestic voice still shines through.
The uplifting “Soul Searching” leads off with Ruthie Foster channeling her inner Darlene Love. A funky bass line sets the groove as electric piano and guitar radiate energy. Feeding off the energy, Ruthie Foster finds hope in her relationship struggles as she sings ‘I was soul searching when I found you, and it felt so right. Now I’m soul searching how to keep you in my life’. The joyful rhythms and backing vocal harmonies indicate that her search will soon yield what her heart seeks. Mining further more Motown influences, “Finish Line” captures the joyful energy of Martha Reeves and the Vandellas. The first notes of “Give Up on You” recall “What’s Going On?” era-Marvin Gaye. The harmonica infused tones of “Love Is the Answer” are a tribute to Stevie Wonder. “For You” and “Paradise” evoke the elegance of Mary Wells.
Ruthie Foster does return to her Chicago Blues stylings on “What Kind of Fool” but she really hits her stride when she embraces her Gospel Roots. “I Was Called” is a slow burning praise song whose lyrics celebrate the joy of victory while the musical arrangement acknowledges the pain of the struggle. “Freedom” starts off slow and contemplative and builds to a dynamic crescendo as Foster sings ‘storm clouds are breaking and my worries, they are fading’. She is not only addressing personal freedom from worry or addiction, her words are calling for a national, global freedom from division and all the ugly ‘isms’ that separate we humans from one another. “Healing Time” is full throttle, feel-good Gospel. Reminding us that the first step to healing is to let go of what’s hurting us, she encourages us to take an active part in our healing as well as the healing of our communities. If music is good medicine, then Ruthie Foster has earned her M.D. degree. (by Brian Rock)
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Melissa Carper (from the album Ramblin’ Soul available on Mae Music/Thirty Tigers)  (by Bryant Liggett)
Melissa Carper may have made the coolest record of 2022. Old school acoustic and raw Boogie, dirty and gritty Cocktail Lounge vibes grounded a hearty dose of swinging Blues. Ramblin’ Soul , the latest release from Melissa Carper, is flat-out Roots music fun. Finger-snapping cool kicks the record off, complete with a sound several decades old, as the title track album opener “Ramblin’ Soul” drives in on a click-clack rhythm as Melissa Carper drops a story-song narrative about road life, professing her love for every second of her nomadic travels in each note she sings.
Ramblin’ Soul carries a load of Bob Wills in “Texas, Texas, Texas”, “Boxers on Backwards” is a fun lament about someone who ‘ain’t getting lucky tonight’, “That’s My Only Regret” is a two-stepping, cry-in-your-beer weeper. Ramblin’ Soul takes a drive down into The Big Easy as “Holding All the Cards” blast a Bourbon Street parade Dixieland clarinet.
Use this record as a slight Pop-culture history lesson as well as Melissa Carper does a bang-up job of digging back to 1970 to honor Odetta and her cut “Hit or Miss”, a gateway green light to explore more music from Odetta. R&B gospel sways in “Ain’t a Days Goes By”, dreamy Jazz sings a ballad for “From What I Recall”, and maximum-groove harmonies wrap around the beautiful “Hanging on to You”.
It is hard to tell if its 1930, 1955, 1970, or 2022. Melissa Carper has made a record proving old is new, and old-school, new-school is always cool-school. It is also a melting pot record, dipping its tapping-toes into Jazz, Blues, and Lounge Cabaret while remaining swinging, swaying, and finger-snapping non-hipster hip. (by Bryant Liggett)
 
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Angela Streheli (from Ace of Blues on Antone’s Records/New West Records) (by Lee Zimmerman)

Angela Streheli has long since earned her Blues pedigree, beginning with her early music ventures in the 1970’s and 1980’s, proceeding through a storied career that found her performing and interacting with the likes of Muddy Waters, B.B, King, Albert King, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jeff Beck, Gregg Allman, and Johnny Winters, among many others. With her new album — her first in 20 years and aptly titled Ace of Blues -- she steps back into the spotlight, proving that even at the age of 78, she’s as vital and vivacious as ever.
 
‘I live the life I love and I Love the Life I Live’ she insists early on, and that’s evident in each of these inspired offerings. She takes a solid yet soulful stance on the album opener “Two Steps from the Blues” before veering into the upbeat, horn-infused revelry of “You Never Can Tell” and wringing pure passion from her performance of “Gamblin’ Blues”. Streheli subsequently hits her stride, and given the choice of material — spawned from such sources as Muddy Waters, O.V. Wright, Otis Clay, Elmore James, Jimmy Reed, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Milton, and Chuck Berry — her conviction and commitment are clear.  So too, even the more familiar fare — a take on “Trying to Live My Life Without You” and “Take Out Some Insurance” being obvious examples — become a new and exhilarating experience through the prism of Streheli’s expressive delivery.
 
Angela Streheli’s story is shared through an interview included in the album’s inner sleeve and the personal stories behind each song shared in an enclosed booklet. Still, the most telling tribute comes in the form of her sole individual composition, a beautiful ballad called “SRV”, which she wrote and sings in tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughn, who she happened to meet and mentor early on.  It sums up the sentiments shared throughout, and elevates the emotion that ignites the album overall. A stirring set of songs, Ace of Blues finds Streheli playing a winning hand. (By Lee Zimmerman)
 
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