Category Archives: – CD Reviews

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CD Review — Highway Prayer-Atribute to Adam Carroll

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Independent Label, 830 Records, from Jenni Finlay and Brian T. Atkinson. This first appeared in the January 2017 issue of Buddy Magazine

There’s a photographer’s eye and there’s a poet’s eye. Adam Carroll’s songs seem to mesh the two styles together, using words to paint the photographs of life on life’s terms. There’s 16 Adam Carroll songs on this project, produced by Jenni Finlay and Brian T. Atkinson. But, Adam only sings on the first one, “My Only Good Shirt.” The rest are sung by those who admire this newer-age Guy Clark-style songwriter.

Jason Eady sings “Errol’s Song,” making a listener wish he knew Errol. “”He held my hand when my boots got too heavy, with the mud from the rice fields coming to my behind… We walked through the graveyard of the rusted combines.” And a look at characters Scarface and that dirty-haired girl, in their usual hidey-holes, namely a bar, in Hayes Carll’s cover of “Girl With the Dirty Hair.” And the singer laments, “If I had me some sense, I’d be five years gone by now.”

A personal favorite is “Karaoke Cowboy,” covered by Noel McKay and Brennen Leigh. “In a Stetson hat and some snake-skin boots, a bolo tie and jeans, There’s the karaoke cowboy, his name is Bob, at the bar in Grand Saline.” Bob is clearly seen as a Branson and Nashville wash-up, a success until “a trailer park tornado took all of that away.”

And Terri Hendrix immortalizes the pot-growing couple in “Red Bandana Blues.” Hippies, who never grew up and never moved to town. “Two tie-dyed, brain-fried misfits, who lived in a shack in the back of the Bodark woods… And in trouble they got deeper when they grew their crops of reefer. Because business and pleasure were two words they got confused. And the days went by with the red bandana blues.

James McMurtry, who sings “Screen Door,” is quoted on the liner notes as saying, “Adam’s like a very young Kris Kristofferson. He writes about things that are older than me.” And the notes also state that the record is dedicated to “the memories of Guy Clark and Kent Finlay, who forever changed Texas music.”

— Mary Jane Farmer

CD Review — South Austin Moonlighters

By Houston Hall

The South Austin Moonlighters

The South Austin Moonlighters

I first saw the South Austin Moonlighters a few weeks ago at a Texas Red Dirt Roads Radio Show with Justin Frazell that was held at Billy Bobs Texas in Fort Worth. Right away, when they started off their first tune in the song swap, I knew there was something to look forward to for the future of this band and the future of the Texas Music/Americana scene. But that’s the beauty of what they bring to the table. Not only can they rise to the occasion, but they also bring R&B, Soul, Gospel, Southern Rock and Blues just to name a few genres, to their music repertoire.

For a band that started playing together as a Sunday jam band, South Austin Moonlighters are breaking barriers and revitalizing a tone in the Texas music scene not heard since the mid 1960s through to the mid to late 1970s.

The band is composed of all true lead instrumentalists and vocalists. All of which have a few chances to sing lead vocals in the new album Ghost of a Small Town, which was released July 12 of this year.

Ghost of a Small Town is made up of 13 different tracks that pull together all of the bands strengths into one tightly-orchestrated package of excellence. With help from Beall Street Productions’ Ryan Lipman in the mixing of the tracks and the master, done by Nick Landis of Tera Nova, you get the best audio quality possible.

Mike Ryan (left) and Phil Hurley (right)

Mike Ryan (left) and Phil Hurley (right)

I had a chance to speak to one of the band members and the producer of the album, Mr. Chris Beall. He said that the main reason for the title of the newly released project stemmed from an anecdote to his initial start in Austin.

“Ever since I’ve lived in Austin there’s been this idea of what people think that Austin used to be. And everybody harkens back to the glory days. You know, when Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson and all kinds of these different artists were coming across the stage and there was just this great roots music revival going on in Texas… As soon as I showed up to Austin, there was this underlying buzz of all that… But as I stayed here a while, I began to watch my town change too. And I began to realize that maybe I’m not the same as those people, but I can sure see where they’re coming from.”

I than asked him what he meant by that and Chris so firmly responded with “I can sure see the tradeoff that has made it become what it is. So I’ve watched the condos go up. I’ve watched small businesses fold up and not be able to pay the overhead that it takes to survive in a large city like Austin. And all of this stuff is happening in the space of this moniker, the live music capital of the world… So you get this ironic kind of sense that this live music capital of the world thing man, you know. I’m not real sure of how long we can keep doing that to prop it up. If it can’t stand on its own legs you know… and the musicians are having a hard enough time making enough to live in the city that claims that, then how is that going to work?”

And that’s where Ghosts of a Small Town came from. “The idea that

Phil Bass

Phil Bass

we’re not resentful about change… But we are wise enough to know what the cost really is. So really, that’s what we’re doing. We are hanging on to the way that we believe and the way we love. And, we are trying to convey that to everyone around us. So Ghost of a Small Town is kind of like us living in this thing that used to be something else. Or Ghost of a Small Town is a remnant of the way that it used to be.”

The band consists of Lonnie Trevino Jr. (bass), Phil Bass (drums), Phil Hurley (guitar) and Chris Beale (guitar), all of whom have a turn in singing lead vocals on the album. Most notably would be the 12th track on the album, “Jesus (Make Up My Dying Bed).” That song utilized Lonnie Trevino’s diverse vocal range to encapsulate the tone and degree of precision required to make that song percolate to the masses of music lovers everywhere.

It truly shows the diversity of the genres that this band can cover. In a soulful, R&B tone along with bluesy licks that you can’t go wrong with, the South Austin Moonlighters give you a glimpse of what they are made of.

Other notable journalists and music publications have dubbed them as a band that “covers a ton of stylistic ground… with gritty blues, nasty funk, R&B, pop, rock, and more cropping up along the way.” – Matt Blackett, Guitar Player Magazine Editor’s Fav’s from 2014.

Jeremy Burchard from Texas Music Magazine put it pretty clearly when he said, “Success for this Americana ensemble has about embracing a supper group ethos while shunning supper group egos.”

Lonnie Trevino Jr.

Lonnie Trevino Jr.

And Andrew Conroy of KUTX 98.9 FM said, “When four established musicians decide to join forces and play together just because it’s fun, you’re going to get something special. Such is the case for South Austin Moonlighters.”

During the interview I had with Chris about the new album, I asked him if he felt like they were chasing after a time machine that might have already passed. Or, would it be more along the lines of ‘you feeling blessed to still be doing this?’ His response was great when he said, with echoing laughter and a sense of humility, “I think both are true.”

But that’s the kicker to this whole story, really. Yeah, they might have gained more grey hairs than most chasing down their dreams over the years, but I believe that people don’t even see age anymore. What they hear is a beautiful ensemble and orchestration of guys who have known each other for a while. That the South Austin Moonlighters are creating a passion in the music scene that is a part of what I’d like to call another revolution in music, where there are no barriers or boundaries that can confine the music to one label. And that’s what music really should be. Undefinable, free to roam the eardrums and music collections

Chris Beale

Chris Beale

of the fans who want to be enchanted or taken away from reality for a short while.

You can find Ghost of a Small Town on iTunes and Amazon for

download sites or you can get a hard copy at Waterloo Records or Antone’s Record Shop in Austin. You can also visit CD Baby (link below) and get a digital download or order the hard copy of the album as well.

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/thesouthaustinmoonlighte3

Link to the band’s Website:  TheSouthAustinMoonlighters.com

Gospel Lee — CD Review

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by Mitchell Weiss, Scene In Town contributor

Gospel Lee — "Brilliant"

Gospel Lee — “Brilliant”

Gospel Lee, Brilliant, Independent label

Hailing from Oklahoma, now residing in Arizona, Gospel Lee is a Christian hip hop artist who is delivering us his 3rd EP titled Brilliant.

Off the bat, the first thing you might notice about this album is its very genuine hip hop sound. There is nothing too flashy about the production or the chorus, just straight bars coming from each song.
Starting off the album we have the song “Clutch,” Lee’s flow pattern is really choppy on this song going along to the video game theme to the beat. Along with the loud siren in the background, this intro track gives you a nice ease into this high energy EP. Lee carries this energy into one of the more lyrical tracks on the project with “Spirit Animal (Aslan).” At the start of the track you can hear Lee reciting Power Ranger mechazoid summoning quotes as it’s a funny representation to the theme of the song. In the show the giant robots they fight in are to be used to fight the bigger villains that are too strong for the rangers by themselves. Lee is using Aslan, the fictional character in C.S. Lewis “The Chronicles of Narnia” as his strength against sin and the world. He used Aslan as his animal specifically drawn from the Lion Of Juda from Revelation 5:5.
Going into the second half of the album, we have something of a spoken word piece with “Far Away.” In this mid-tempo song, he is describing a certain time in his life of emptiness and how far away God seems to be from him. He comes full circle with this concept with the realization of how close he is to God. This song would have sounded real nice if it were flipped in the track listing with “Spirit Animal (Aslan)” because of the concept of having God as your source of strength.

Wrapping up the album, we get the title track “Brilliant,” featuring beautiful vocals by Moyosulo. This track still keeps that hard-banging production that it has had throughout the project, but now with singing on the chorus with Moyosulo. He talks on the subject of being you as your own person and to stop trying to be like your idols or anyone else, and to try to find satisfaction in what God has created you to be.

We do get a bonus track, “Okies,” which is really just an anthem to Lee’s hometown of Oklahoma City. It brings a nostalgic feel for anyone from this area where he is describing the people and good places to eat. It’s just a fun beat that you just can’t nod your head to.
Overall, this is a good album with really good production value and lyrical content. Seeing how Lee has progressed through the years with his EPs, this is still a great stepping stone to boost his career. With the genuine hip hop feel throughout the entire project, it would be an enjoyable project to play for anyone who loves the genre, and high energy enough to be able to get hype too at a party.

Brilliant is available on iTunes.com and other online download sites.

CD Review — Sarah Pierce “Barbed Wire”

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First published in the March 2016 issue of Buddy MagazineBarbed toss

Sarah Pierce, Barbed Wire, Little Bear Records

And speaking of life in the small town, Texas singer/songwriter Sarah Pierce has produced a near-biographical collection of songs on her latest release, Barbed Wire, which will be showcased on March 18 during the SXSW festivities in Austin.

The title cut, she said became a song when, one day, she was clearing a pasture, she found an old rusty barbed wire fence, which she found out that barbed wire was made in 1876. The lyrics came to her while holding a section of that wire, “pounded metal in the shape of a shooting star, trapped by three rusted wires, kind of like my heart.”

Like Granger Smith, Pierce also writes about her late father in the tender “See You in The Morning.” But she remembers him in another way, and proof that there’s more than one way to say “I miss you,” than “I miss you.” She sings of how her dad went to church every morning, but his church is a spot in the country where he knelt to talk to God “like they were old friends. He’d end each prayer with ‘I’ll die trying. If I make it through, I’ll see you in the morning.”

And about living in a small town, in this case in the country, Pierce sings “If you call us something, call us proud.” And her heart went into the “I’m the Daughter of a Cowboy’s Wife.” This song depicts how her dad left the family for city life, and how her mother worked to keep life together for her and the family.

This CD will be going into my list of “Favorite CDs of 2016.” No bout adout it. It’s not Sarah Pierce’s first project, but may be her best yet. It is available on iTunes.com and off her Website, SarahPierce.com.

Mary Jane Farmer

CD Review — Don Henley’s “Cass County”

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First published in February 2016 issue, Buddy MagazineDon Henley

Don Henley, Cass County, Capital Records

We’ll all know on February 15 if one of the songs on Don Henley’s latest solo effort, Cass County, has landed the former Eagles member another Grammy. “The High Cost of Living,” with Merle Haggard having joined Henley on vocals, is nominated for “Best American Roots Song.”

A great song, as are all on this CD, but it’s “Take a Picture of This” on Cass County which has been getting regional and national airplay. This song takes a deep look at lost love. “I gave it everything I had, through the good times and the bad…”

Most of the songs on the CD offer those alternative views of good and bad times, masterfully using everyday words to see what Henley, and co-writer Stan Lynch on most, are saying, and to hear the wisdom in many of the lyrics. From “Praying For Rain” – “I ain’t no wise man, but I ain’t no fool. And I believe that Mother Nature is takin’ us to school. Maybe we just took too much and put too little back. It isn’t knowledge, it’s humility we lack.” Or from “Words Can Break Your Heart” — “It only takes a breath or two to tear your world apart.”

There’s four songs here that Henley and Lynch didn’t write — Tift Merritt’s “Bramble Rose,” with Mick Jagger and Miranda Lambert adding vocals; Jesse Winchester’s classic “Brand New Tennessee Waltz,” including Alison Krauss on duet vocals; “When I Stopped Dreaming,” the Ira and Charles Louvin classic made even more classic with Dolly Parton singing along with Henley; and Jesse Lee Kincaid’s “She Sang Hymns Out of Tune.” Joining Henley on other songs are Trisha Yearwood, Martina McBride, Lee Ann Womack, and others.

Henley named the CD for the county seat of his hometown Linden, Texas. He makes his primary home now in Dallas.

Cass County debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Country Chart.

For vinyl lovers, this project is also available on a long-play record set.

Mary Jane Farmer