| Quiet Loner/ Secret Ruler Of The World/ Circus 65 Records/ The band is formed around Manchester band singer/songwriter Matt Hill who self-released some EP's wich sold out yet. Quiet Loner also features the beautiful pedal-steel guitar of Alan Cook, banjo and piano magic of twin brothers and rhythm section Mike and Dave Hanies. "Secret Ruler..."reveals a range of styles and influences from the Lennon -esque piano of "Steal Away" to the Tom Waits balladry of "God Knows I'm Leaving" through the Jayhawks inspired piano country-rock of "Fraction Of Her Smile" and the country train-groove of Johny Cash on "Real Romantic Soul". These Guys are one of my favorites. (www.quietloner.com) |
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| Lucy Kaplansky �The Red Thread�(Red House Records) Lucy�s latest cd deals with the recent adoption of her daughter Molly and the tragic events of 9-11. In �Land of the living� and �Brooklyn Train, Lucy, being close to the towers at the very moment, sings without diffidence about the fatal blow her country received on a moral scale and about the senselessness of violence. �I had something�(with Richard Shindell) and �This is home�(with John Gorka) reveal the happiness of a future mother. She gets also some help of Eliza Gilkyson and Jonatha Brooke. The unsurpassed Duke Levine plays different sorts of guitar and mandolin. Some great covers are Buddy Miller-Jim Lauderdale�s �Hole in my head�, Dave Carter�s �Cowboy Singer� and Bill Morrissey�s �Love song/New York�. [email protected] |
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| Sara Pace �Self-titled�(self-released) This self-titled debut dates already from 2002 and is now available in Europe. Sara has a great voice and belongs to the same league as Iris Dement and Gillian Welch. She�s influenced by Bob Dylan and John Prine. Singer-songwriter stuff with lots of country-folk storytelling. Highlights are �Calamity Joe�, �Just as well�,� Hard to imagine� and �Lay my body down�. Very sparse accompaniment consists of a guitar, violin and sporadic a pedal-steel, bass, mandolin and drums. Remarkable also are the guitar licks from producer Doug Milks. Recommended to the fans of country-folk singer-songwriters. www.sarapace.com |
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| Slaid Cleaves �Wishbones� (Philo/Rounder/CRS) People wandered if Slaid could equal the success of his former cd �Broke down� with his new cd. They didn�t have to fear because his latest is even better. The title-track co-written with R W Hubbard is a nice rootspop song. �Road too long� is a bluesy song with great hammond from Ian McLagan. �Drinkin� Days�, co-written with Karen Poston, is a catchy song about a life full of whiskey and smoke. The highlight of the cd is �Sinner�s Prayer� which is co-written with his buddy Rod Picott, whose �Tiger Tom Dixon�s blues� is coated with a different kind of paint. Great dobro from Jeff Plankenhorn on �Horses�. Gurf Morlix is producing and handling a lot of strings, which is surely worth mentioning. A must have for the fans of Texas singer-songwriter�s stuff. www.slaid.com www.continental.nl |