| Dave Gleason's Wasted Days "Wasted Days" (Well Worn) Countrified Roots-Rock from this Oakland bandleader. Listening to this cd Gram Parsons come to my mind. He even brings an unreleased Parsons nugget "Funky String Quartet" that Gleason discovered on a friend's bootleg tape. Most of the songs are mid-tempo varied with some ballads like "Can't do wrong" with an excellent Joe Goldmark on pedal steel and even an instrumental "South Virgi nia Breakdown". Other members of the band are Dave Stark(acoustic guitar,vocals), John Kent(drums), Michael Therieau(bass,harmonica,vocals), Michael Montalto(piano,organ,mandolin) and Mike Ferrell(guitar). The cd ends with "Country Mile", a song which can compete with Rolling Stones' "Dead Flowers". Another cd for my top-20 of 2002. Highly recommended to all country-rock lovers. www.dave-gleason.com |
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| Lonesome Brothers "Pony Tales" (Captivating Music) Although these guys made more records, I guess this one must be their masterpiece. Great Roots-rock combined with county elements. The strength of the band is the individual talent of each member(Ray Mason : "bass,vocals,acoustic", Jim Armenti: "guitars,vocals,mandolin", Tom Shea :"drums,mandolin,vocals") ,when melt together, creates a great outfit. They get some help from Jim Weeks(keyboards,percussion,vocals,harmonica) and Doug Beaumier(pedal steel, dobro). Highlights of the cd : ballads("Next Time", "Almost had you"), mid-tempo("Made of Stone", "Bent Rim") and up-tempo("Crossing with the cuckoo", "Dumbstruck at the dumpster"). A jewel for the roots-rock fan. www.lonesomebrothers.com |
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| Bryan Masters �Thundar the boy giant�(Digital Boy Records) Great singer-songwriter stuff with a pop-rock edge and touches of country and folk. Some of his songs are acoustic(4), but most of them are electric driven. Most of his songs deal with relationships, loneliness and lost love. On the acoustic side �Miss You Sundays� is a real gem(a great song of having no one around on a bloody Sunday). Highlights on the electric side are �All Torn Down�(a great song about loneliness), �Thunderhead� and �Leap Of Faith�. Also worth mentioning is the country-song �Two Flattop Guitars�. Bryan�s band consists of Mark Horton on electric and acoustic guitar, Mark Scheltgen on bass and electric guitar. He also gets help from Dennis Hardin on mandolin and guitar, Richard Crowson on banjo and Steve Hatfield on drums. Music lovers who love singer-songwriters should buy this cd. www.bryanmasters.com |
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| Steve Dickinson �Good Old Days� (Destini Records) Steve brings us back to the rock of the seventies and the eighties He reminds me of many rockers of that time : Bob Seger(�Ten Summers Past�, �Workin� hard is hardly workin��, �Life�s too short�), Van Morrison(�Any other road�), Bruce Springsteen(�What you see ain�t always what you get�), John Mellencamp(�Good old days�, �Summer Rain�), Rolling Stones(�Three Words�). The cd ends with a great ballad(�Out of the blue�). He�s backed by a brilliant band : Cory Barnes(guitar),Wendell Ferguson(guitar),Paul E. Farrow(bass), Neil Raynsford(drums), Bryan Weirmier(piano,organ) and Sandra Swannell on fiddle and viola. I hope Steve with his band will play Europe in the future because that�ll be a real treat for the older roots-rockers among us. Very Recommended. Check out also our cdbaby link. www.dickinsonalley.ca |