| ROBERT MC CREEDY/ STREAMLINE/ SAFE HOUSE RECORDS Robert Mc Creedy, former member of The Volebeats, is a singer/songwriter who brings on his debut solo-release folky, alt-country songs. "Down" features a haunting wurlitzer, while "Gone Again" is coloured with accordeon and Laura Cantrell on the backing vocals. She does this also on "Emily" and "Too Much Love". "Float Away" is led by banjo and fiddle. Another gem is "Love Without Shame" a song that'll stay in your head for a long time. A special note for mike Daly (ex-Whiskeytown) who helped produce and played guitar, pedal steel and mandolin. Another must have cd for the "No Depression" music freaks. www.safehouserecords.com |
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| ANDY GORWELL/ UPROOTED/ CAVALIER MUSIC Listening to Andy Gorwell's "Uprooted", I get a nostalgic feeling of the 60's and the 70's when Gram Parsonsand Chris Hillman created a format later called "country-rock". Another great influence on Andy's music are the rolling stones ("Anticipating" and Take you home tonight"). Andy wrote all the songs, exept for Rolling Stones "No Expectations". Highlights are the ballads "Old Friend The Blues" and "Old Trains" with great pedal steel of Ed Bates. Andy plays great dobro, harp and piano. Everyone with a heart for country-rock should have this cd in his collection. www.MP3.com.au/andygorwell |
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| LISA NOVAK/ PERFECT MESS/ SELF RELEASED/ Houstonian singer-songwriter Lisa Novak plays in the same league as Catie Curtis or Lucy Kaplansky, though she has great personality herself. Her style could be called folk -rock mixed with pop elements. Her dark voice reminds me sometimes of Mary Chapin Carpenter (Never Will). The CD starts with the title cut wich is very rockin'. She has a great band (Big Holiday) to back her up. Steve Green and Vince Martin are great guitar players. "Release me, "Sometimes" and " Over Again" are great ballads, with superb violin by Kristin Jensen and mandolin by Mark Zeus. There's no filler on this cd. (www.lisanovak.com) |
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| SADDLESONG/ SAME/ SELF_RELEASED Carter and Courtney prove that making good music in Nashville is still possible. They're one of the best alt-country-rock bands I heard this year. Their music is a mix of bluegrass, country-rock music. The CD starts off with a havey country-rocking track (Mable) reminding me of the Good Faces. After that they lower sound and tempo with "Horses Running". Great ballads ("Pretty Good Sled", "Began At The End" and the masterpiece "Even Moses Got Lucky"), Mid-tempo songs ("California", "Call Me By Name", "Treed-in Town"), Bluegrass (Glory), Bluesy rockabilly (New Baby Now) are just a few highlights of the CD. Everyone should get this cd because it's so brilliant. (www.saddlesong.net) |
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| NATHAN HAMILTON/ ALL FOR LOVE AND WAGES/ STEPPIN' STONE RECORDS He's my kind of country rocker. His second solo-cd is the best thing to come out of Texas this year. In my opinion he's one the best songwriters of Texas. His songs are taken of every day life and the music reminds me of the seventies country-rock. Many songs stick in your head for weeks. The best songs are "Things Of All Thing" and "Bed Clothes". Also worth mentioning are his guitarists Brent Malkus and Ted Cho and Kim Dechamps on pedal steel. Another one for my top 10 of 2002 (www.nathanhamilton.com) |