| Leeann Atherton �Lady Liberty� Steppin Stone Records ***(out of four) Leeann Atherton, who hails from here in South Carolina ended up a popular act in Austin by way of Nashville ten years ago. She has been living in Texas ever since and her promising singing career has managed to sustain itself in the prolific Austin music scene. She was twice voted newfolker at the Kerville Folk Festival and plays regularly at the Old Settler�s Bluegrass Festival. She�s gotten great reviews in the Austin Chronicle and was named as one of Austin�s best albums in the 1999 picks. Her new album, �Lady Liberty� really needs nothing but a good listen to prove that all the accolades are pretty much right on target. With songwriter Mike Stevenson penning the lyrics, combined with Atherton�s Bonne Raitt-like voice, you can�t go wrong. Mike Stevenson�s lyrics are evocative in their storytelling capabilities and add a depth to the music that really grabs hold of the listener and won�t let go. There�s a strong sense of family and an ethereal quality to most of these songs. This is an album worth repeated listening. The band is strong and equally slips into the hats of honky-tonk, Blues and Bluegrass styling during the course of the album�s thirteen cuts without a hitch. For a rich, entertaining, multi-style listening experience that won�t let you down and expands itself with traditional, Americana influences, check out a copy of Atherton�s �Lady Liberty�. You won�t be disappointed. Nathan Hamilton �Tuscola� Steppin Stone Records ****(out of four) Nathan Hamilton was born and raised in Abiline, Texas which I�m sure helped to contribute the feel and sound of this great album. Hamilton, before releasing this new solo album, had previously been in a band called �The Sharecroppers� who released �Spirit of the Sharecroppers� which received much respect from critics and fans alike. Now, with �Tuscola�- a word which I could find only to be a county in Michigan or a town in Illinois- he has proven to be a true American poet. He sings of sad-eyed old men at bus stops, outlaws, drunks , murderers and whores. His lyrics are interlaced with shadows and silhouettes, gloomy bar-rooms and hardscrabble fields. There�s dripping faucets, burning tobacco, hard liquor and a whistling kettle. All of these ideas weave together in the music to pull the listener into this world of love, loss and redemption. The songs drift across this landscape in a variety of styles including the road-house roll of �Two Penny Vengeance� to the hoe-down of �Roots�. I think the stand-out track of the album is �Grainger County�. This kick-ass, rollicking , coming of age song can easily stand up to such classics as �Georgia On A Fast Train� by Billy Joe Shaver or �Mamma Tried� by Merle Haggerd. Nathan Hamilton comes highly recommended as one of the new Texas poets to be reckoned with. Get it. |