Cindy Bullens

Nashville 1990...had the potential for not being the best climate for a rock’n’roll true believer. Cindy Bullens recorded her first solo album in 1979, was nominated for a 1978 Grammy and did back-up singing chores for Elton John. With strong rock credentials tattooed on her resume, Nashville at the beginning of the twentieth centuries last decade may have seemed like an odd choice. Cindy’s songwriting aims and hits its mark and her friends thought that Music City was the spot. Turns out it was a great decision and Cindy claims the time saved her musical soul. Nashville was changing and what was considered current Country was expanding, keeping its roots and becoming something a little different with artists like Mary Chapin Carpenter, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood leading the charge.
Cindy’s latest release, ‘Howling Trains and Barking Dogs’, is the product of the welcoming environment that greeted her from 1990 to 1995. Cindy wrote with Radney Foster, Bill Lloyd, Matraca Berg and Al Anderson, among others. Time has polished the tracks and left them shining. With a voice that acts as a prime curator, the songs sound fresh and personal. “Whistles and Bells”, recorded by the Dixie Chicks, has a rhythmic bounce, a dancing guitar and the warm glow of organ chords. After-dark confessions (“Ask the Angels”), lonesome reverie and realizations (“Everywhere to Nowhere”) and cracks in commitment (“Can’t Stop This Train”) all benefit from the clarity of words and honesty in delivery. Two newly minted songs join their older siblings on ‘Howling Winds and Whistle Bells’ and fit seamlessly into the family portrait of straight ahead songwriting that brought Cindy south from New England in the wee hours of the 90’s.

CLICK HERE FOR A FREE DOWNLOAD of Cindy Bullens - "The Misty Hills of Tennessee"

The Roadside Graves

I really liked The Roadside Grave’s last album, ‘My Son’s Home’. It nicely walked between sounds, leaving the listener with the memory of the softer, dreamier side of Alt Country. On their latest E.P. release, ‘You Won’t Be Happy With Me’, the guys tune up and plug in, turn the volume knobs up a few notches and raise the roof. Happily, the more amped up delivery does not move away from the bands nature of crafting songs that match their capabilities. The harmonies and arrangements continue to work magic, with the topics, tales and textures gliding along in unison, albeit with a new edge. That tone adds to The Roadside Grave potential, rounding out an already obvious awareness of what they want musically.
‘You Won’t be Happy With Me’ is packed with songs that have an Alt Country DNA yet can stand among peers in the jam band and rock camps. They don’t fit in with the crowd as much as carve out their own space and gain creed on their own terms. Opener “Demons” begins life with a classical piano line that soon walks a tom-tom driven beat into advice for a female friend to drink deep, sink in your teeth, toss personal items at the band and marry just for the heck of it, explaining inconsistencies of behavior with a shrug and an observation.... “we all have demons that rise up when we fall”. The pounding drum beats are joined by the piano in the rhythm push and anthemic guitar swell on “Everything” as the narrator slowly admits, in a series of stops and starts, that his life is his own making. Weighing in at the beyond the seven minute mark is the album’s sonic biography, “Liv Tyler”, moving along like a walk out to the cemetery in its slow motion early moments and building into the high stepping celebration of life that comes after the loved one returns to the earth. The song always promises to explode and fulfills with flying colors. The Roadside Grave have successfully added to their catalog without losing one inch of what they brought to the world in past releases and expanded what the future will hold for fans.

CLICK HERE FOR A FREE DOWNLOAD of The Roadside Graves - "Liv Tyler"

The Scarlet Furies

There is a gentleness and quiet beauty to The Scarlet Furies recent release, ‘Dark Clad Company’. The album title, like the band’s moniker, shine a light towards the red and black goth nature and texture that informs much of their subject matter on the E.P. Raleigh Holmes vocals whisper promises (“All or Nothing”) and say goodbye (“Gone Tomorrow”) with a sweetness that leave a smile and a glass half full memory. Lyrics and story lines, like on “Young Goodman Brown”, lend an age to the songs. The dust of time works well with the instrumentation and The Scarlet Furies natural ability to add freshness. They reincarnate tradition and the resulting sound never shows age. They take a modern classic track by Nirvana (“Heart Shaped Box”) and replace the grunge of Seattle with forest freshness more in line with the folk side of Americana.
The Scarlet Furies have ties that span decades though the incarnation of the band is way more current. The five male players in the band went to high school together in the 1970’s. They played for about five years in their hometown of Whittier California. Time passed. One of the high school/band alumni, Robert Holmes was asked by his twenty year old daughter, Raleigh, to help put together a band that could back her up in an L.A. showcase. The former band members were brought back together. Though the non-blood band members blame Robert for duping them by the promise of a one off gig, none can deny the magic they have created.

CLICK HERE FOR A FREE DOWNLOAD of The Scarlet Furies - "Gone Tomorrow"

The Mountains & The Trees

There is a misconception about adult fairy tales. For some reason, over time, the more violent, dysfunctional fairy tales are dubbed Adult. The Mountain & The Trees debunk the myth on ‘Hop Skip & Jump”. Jon Janes voice/vocals whisper stories in a singsong vocal that is meant for only those closest to the source. It is  for those late nights when all walls are down, vulnerability is hours away, sleeping until the sunrise, and the need for not always being in charge comes through as “tell me a story”. On the E.P., Jon weaves tales, the instrumentation acting as a persistent wave below, supporting with a the commitment to a common goal.
‘Hop, Skip & A Jump’ is a yes to all the above kind of album. Rather than playing what he hears, Jon Janes takes any influences and allows them to filter through his intuition, creating his own brand of Indie/Americana/Folk. The emptiness of leaving comes through on “Goodbye Little Town”. Moments before the rear view mirror is disposed off, the last love letter is written in bitter retrospect, with a little animosity for spice. There is a brightness to the soundtrack promises and beliefs of the narrator in “Hospital View” while the determined persistence of the arrangement nicely backs up the possibly mediocre existence that lies behind the promo-style laundry list of the good things on “Apartment View”. There is hurry up hush to “Up and Down” that is infectious. The Mountains and The Trees deliver a short spurt of songs that are hopefully only the opener for the main, full length headliner.

CLICK HERE FOR A FREE DOWNLOAD of The Mountains & The Trees - "Up & Down"

Blue Cut

Blue Cut are a father/daughter/son trio from Bloomington, Indiana. Background was limited in their bio but what spoke volumes was the list of influences. Being a fan is not the main ingredient for playing, however. Like all good/great acts, Blue Cut funnel what their ears hear and what their minds feel into a stage of their own making and branding with fingers, toes and words. If songs were a resume, Blue Cut has listened to/liked/loved Bob Dylan, Crooked Still, Gillian Welch, Lead Belly, The Beatles, Doc Watson, Tim & Mollie O’Brien as well as recording their versions of songs by Old Crow Medicine Show, Robert Johnson and Frank Sinatra.
But influences do not dictate the sounds being  identical to the bands audio passion. Blue Cut acquires land rights to whatever track of song they tackle. ‘We Walk in Temperatures’, the bands recent release, has playing up front and the intimacy gets real personal quick. There is fluidity to Blue Cut’s playing. Add harmonies that interlock like a tradition of folk musicians, something like a Peter, Paul & Mary in the arrangement. When individual voices soar, they own the stage. The marriage of solo and combined voices is well balanced giving the album more depth without moving away from what they do best. ‘One More Cup of Tea’ scampers along with Bethany Latham delivering the story line without any added voices.  On this week’s free download, “Tulsa Riots” everything lines up in a runaway freight groove. The three Latham’s, Michael, Jacob and Bethany playing seem almost intuitive. Could be blood but I am guessing that the results are from years of playing for fun and operating in an environment where the gold ring was a well crafted song.

CLICK HERE FOR A FREE DOWNLOAD of Blue Cut - "Tulsa Riots"

Steven L. Smith

Steven L. Smith is the kind of person who owns what they touch. Luckily, his vision is focused on what works rather than what he can have, crave, desire. There is an intuition that Steven brings in, a dedication to perfection. He crafts....words, music, guitars and stories. Leading the way is a big voice, offering belief to the promises, translation for the emotion of the language. There is American in all that comes from Steven, whether it is the arts/crafts nature of his guitar making or the characters on ‘Outside of Tupelo’. A bunch of players, equally dedicated, support the songs and songwriter.
Whether the tone is humor (“Women on A Pole”) or heart (“Outside of Tupelo”), memories of the past (“Oregon”) or visions of a future, rising from the heartless/humorless time that has gone before (“Molly”), his tales touch and carry more than a little bit of familiarity. Steven’s big voice has lofty goals and high ideals (“Firm Believer”) and petty crime on the path to salvation (“I Stole A Bible”). The crossroads where the characters, the stories, the heart and the soul meet is “Cowboy Song”. Steven pours out the words as a high lonesome fiddle and airborne guitar notes sparkle in the nighttime sky.

CLICK HERE FOR A FREE DOWNLOAD of Steven L. Smith - "Cowboy Song"