​The Kearns Family (from the E.P. Side Trips

​The Kearns Family (from the E.P. Side Trips

​The Kearns Family (from the E.P. Side Trips available on Goat Mountain Records) (by Danny McCloskey)
Only five songs are available on Side Trips, the recent E.P. release from The Kearns Family. The duo does justice to their Hi Desert environs on every note,  granting the songs breathing room, much like the wide-open spaces in which they were born. Four of the songs are covers, with one original written by Pat Kearns along with Will Amato, “The Ballad of Bobby Furst”. The story champions Bobby Furst who passed away on June 8, 2025. The song takes you ‘to the Hi Desert where the Joshua Trees grow’, moving alongside Bobby as he travels from Laurel Canyon, following the Route 62 highway up and up, seeing the beauty of life in every artifact buried in the sand and revealed by the wind. Bobby Furst built Frustworld; The Kearns Family describing his being and the space as ‘a place for art, and a passion so real’.
A slowly unraveling rhythm defines the dusty groove of “When the Nights Are Cold”; a Butch Hancock tune brought to life by Jimme Dale Gilmore. Reimagining Abba as Barstow bar band, Side Tripsopens its song cycle with “Dancing Queen” as The Kearns Family trudge over a molasses slow rhythm to deliver Townes Van Zandt’s “Nothin’”. Offering another opinion for Roly Salley’s “Killing the Blues”, The Kearns Family (Pat Kearns on vocals, guitar and Susan Kearns on upright bass) take the hesitated hopes talked about in the lyrics and provide a soundtrack that matches the roller-coastered emotions of the tale to perfection. (by Danny McCloskey)
Listen and buy the music of The Kearns Family from AMAZON
For more information and purchase options, please visit The Kearns Family website