The Alternate Root - Discover Roots & Americana Music
  • Home
  • Top Ten
  • It's All Music Radio
  • Latest Videos
  • All Reviews
  • Breaking Thru
  • Who's Playing Near Me?
  • Seen & Heard
    • Advertise With Us
    • Removal of Content
  • About
  • Contact
The Category Navigation Widget will appear here on the live site.

The Alternate Root

Listen To Our Top 10

All Reviews archive

Brought to You From Our Alt Root Writers

The Breadcrumbs Widget will appear here on the live site.

6/10/2022

0 Comments

 

Michael Martin Murphey and Ryan Murphey

Picture
Michael Martin Murphey and Ryan Murphey (from the album Road Beyond the View on Wildfire Productions Inc) (by Lee Zimmerman)
 
Michael Martin Murphey has been hailed for any number of accomplishments, and rightfully so. Aside from the fact that he helped popularize the genre that came to be known as ‘Cowboy Country’, he also scored a number of singles that successfully found placement on the pop charts, — among them, “Geronimo’s Cadillac“, “Wildfire”, “Carolina in the Pines”, and “What’s Forever For” in particular. His dedication to preserving America’s western musical heritage has kept him engaged ever since, more or less branding him as a proponent of authentic Americana.

That said, his new album, Road Beyond the View -- a first collaboration with his son, Ryan Murphey, a skilled guitarist in his own right — will likely surprise some fans, and in more than a few cases, leave listeners utterly baffled. Aside from the melodious opening offering — which also serves as the album’s title track — there’s little here that suggests any connection whatsoever to the elder Murphey’s earlier endeavors. It’s a set of songs wholly dominated by a gentle jazz tapestry, from the samba and sway of the lilting “La Plaza” and the supple sashay of “Gallery Row”, to the mellow meandering and lithe acoustic guitar found in “Golden Summertime” and “Carson’s Way”. Many of the sounds bring to mind a decided south of the border ambience, but most of the melodies also adhere to a lounge-like set-up, unhurried and unembellished due to a twilight tempo.
 
Like any good dad, the elder Murphey is obviously intent on helping his boy get a big break, and what better way of doing so than to find the music divvied up between father and son. They share writing credits for all the songs save one, “Lady Sunhawk”, which was written solely by Ryan ‘with inspiration from Michael’. So, while Michael himself is responsible for all the lead vocals, Ryan’s impeccable playing is also found at the fore. Both men seem equally at home in these Jazz-lite realms, and were it not for the fact that the name Michael Martin Murphey is up on the marquee, the credits might easily be mistaken for an artist well served by a cocktail connection.
 
Sadly, the shock of hearing Michael Martin Murphey outside his traditional template may prove too great a distraction for his erstwhile admirers. Which is a shame. If judged only on its own merits, Road Beyond the View represents a pleasant path forward. (By Lee Zimmerman)
 
Listen and buy the music of Michael Murphey and Ryan Murphey from AMAZON
 
For more information and purchase options, please visit the Michael Martin Murphey and Ryan Murphey website
The Blog Tags widget will appear here on the published site.
Tags:
0 Comments
The Recommended Posts widget will appear here on the published site.

You Might Also Like

First Last



Leave a Reply.

Jim Bachmann (from the Sitting Down Under the Moon available on ) (by Danny McCloskey)
Jim Bachmann gives a common human trait a beat, celebrating mistakes and questionable decisions with a dancing groove in “Paying Dues”. Joined by Kayla Ray, he wistfully duets a kiss-off for “Hate to See You Go”. Hurried strums back the admissions of “Good at a Bad Job” while “Hurtin’ finds Jim Bachmann hunched over a drink at a bar as the Arizona songman guides his tracks onto a new release, Sitting Down Under the Moon. Jim Bachmann creates moods in a melody, gently bidding goodnight as he exits the album with “Beautiful Sleep”, bordering the dreamlike atmosphere with the playful sway of title track album opener “Sitting Down Under the Moon”.  (by Danny McCloskey)
Listen to Jim Bachmann on Spotify
Find more information and purchase options on the Jim Bachmann website
 
 
 
Alison de Groot and Tatiana Hargreaves (from the album Hurricane Clarice available as a self-release)  (by Danny McCloskey)
Alison de Groot and Tatiana Hargreaves approach traditional music with modern melodies on Hurricane Clarice, their recent release. The flurry of strings is seductive, the pair weaving magical trances throughout the album. Over rapid-fire chord strums and fiddle bends Alison de Groot and Tatiana Hargreaves ponder why “Each Season Changes You” while somber notes color the title track, breaking into a reel for its tune companion in “Hurricane Clarice/Brushy Fork of John’s Creek”. Spoken word snippets tell of birds and early risers for “Ostrich with Pearls”, while stark fiddle playing makes an introduction to an equally raw musical backing for “I Would Not Live Always” and a scratchy melody captures the beauty of mountain music in “Wellington”. (by Danny McCloskey)
Listen to Alison de Groot and Tatiana Gargreaves on Spotify
Find more information and purchase options on the Jim Bachmann website
 
 
 
Sweet Virginia (from the album Leaving Again on Gitcha Records)
Sweet Virginia bounces in on a trippy drumbeat and a rock’n’roll riff with “Blue Skies”, barreling into Leaving Again, her recent release, on the album opener. Sweet Virginia wraps the traditional tune “Careless Love” an Indie Rock blanket that warms the sad story, keeping the musical model in the backing music for the album. Pedal steel twang gives wings to the Rock beat greeting “Sunday” as a staccato Tex-Mex breeze blows over “Tell Me a Lie” while Sweet Virginia lets her voice rise and fall for “Hallelujah, Michael”, wondering if love has reached the “End of the Rainbow”.
 
 
Listen to Sweet Virginia on Spotify
Find more information and purchase options on the Sweet Virginia website
 
 
 
 
Big Lou Johnson (from the album Bigman available on Goldenvoice Audio)
 
A zydeco beat is on board for 1960’s influenced Rock’n’Pop when Big Lou Johnson becomes the charming shot caller in “Shucky Ducky (Quack Quack)”, as he kicks open the doors on the album with the Bluesy Rock’n’Soul of “Lightnin’ Strikes” and gives his resume a powerful back beat in the title track, “Big Man”.  Smooth silky low register vocals put Big Lou Johnson up front as he seduces with “Never Get Over Me”, goes down for the bottom rung Blues of “Fever”, struts for the finger-pointing in “Chill on Cold”, and gives his responsibilities a beat they can dance to on “Stuff to Do”.
 
Listen to Big Lou Johnson on Spotify
Find more information and purchase options on the Big Lou Johnson website
 
 
The Miners (from the album Megunticook available on Match-up Zone Music)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Alt Country torchbearers The Miners stay true to the genre influencers on Megunticook, their recent release. Hints of Gran Parsons through Whiskeytown are found on the branded songs of The Miners. Acoustics start along the path to “Walnut Lane” before the melody courses over a Country backbeat while string bends and chord strums surround the story of “Cardboard Sign”. Megunticook is a true believer of the Alt Country credo. Smart, sometimes snarky, stories told of Country life with a honky tonk backbeat. Mournful rhythms open the somber story of “Day the Drummer Died” and electric notes sparkle like fireflies around “Apologize” as The Miners roll a Country Rock sway underneath “Leaving for Ohio”.
 
Listen to The Miners on Spotify
Find more information and purchase options on The Miners website
 
 
 
Jay & The Cooks (from the album Dried Up Dreams available on Justne Une Truce Records)
Raggedy Blue Folk music rattles over Dried Up Dreams, the recent release from French-based Americana outfit, Jay & The Cooks. Beginning in Chicago, Jay began work as a musician, claiming space in Austin, New York, and the west coast. In 1980, a trip to the South of France introduced Jay to French cuisine. He fell in love with the food of France, becoming a consumer and a creator. Dried Up Dreams hears Jay & The Cooks returning to recording. Dusty Southwest U.S. strums give Dried Up Dreams a desert feel, the shaggy chords and rambling harmonica in “Deaf Water”, slow churning chords and beats are the foundation of a tale of loss in “Empty Glass of Love”, and Folk Country twang rattles with the banjo confidently striding across “I Just came to Tell You I’m Going”. The Roots of Jay & The Cooks run deep surrounding the mountain music supporting the story in “Front Line Worker Blues”, Southern Rock straining the seams of “Confederate Son”, the uptown Soul wrapping around “Organic Lush”, and the hint of Zydeco of found in “Dried Up Hearts”.
 
Listen to Jay & The Cooks on Spotify
 
Find more information and purchase options on the Jay & The Cooks website
 
 
 

 
 

Picture

    subscribe to our newsletter

Submit

To submit music, please mail a copy of your CD to the following address:
Danny McCloskey
The Alternate Root
1717 East Vista Chino
Ste A7 PMB 302
Palm Springs, CA 92262

Contact Us

    we do not share email addresses

Submit

©2021 The Alternate Root All Rights Reserved
website by Jim Cortez jctez12@gmail.com
  • Home
  • Top Ten
  • It's All Music Radio
  • Latest Videos
  • All Reviews
  • Breaking Thru
  • Who's Playing Near Me?
  • Seen & Heard
    • Advertise With Us
    • Removal of Content
  • About
  • Contact