Name that Category
Ashley Riley is one of those Venn diagram performers who gets labeled “Americana” because she’s not quite country, folk, or pop. Listen to a few tracks from Set You Free and you’ll know what I mean. “Close to Me,” an earnest pleading for a restoration of intimacy, finds Riley on acoustic guitar, but is sung country chanteuse style and is backed by some indie rock atmospheric electric instrumentation and studio backing vocals. Although Riley doesn’t have a big voice, she’s not afraid to air it. The title track finds her drifting up to an approximation of a pop diva performance, though the fact that she builds to instead of going full leather lung from the start it is an indication that’s not cut from that cloth. “Cut My Losses” also has pop chops, though the song–about a woman about to set herself free–could easily be taken from the studio and performed as unplugged folk or country. A YouTube clip of Riley performing “Make Me” demonstrates the ease with which Riley can simplify and go full acoustic. As faithful readers know, I am a fan of keeping things real.
Canadian singer/songwriter Dana Sipos is another artist who is hard to peg. Her new project The Astral Plane might conjure expectations of swirling Grateful Dead-like sonics, but hers is a different sort of experimentation. Sipos lives her explorations; she dwells amidst old-growth forests on Vancouver Island. Her songs often depart from surface implications. One might, for instance, assume that “Skinny Legs ” is self-referential for the willowy Sipos, but the song is actually about her grandmother. The sentiments echo bluegrass themes, but she performs it as you see in the video–as if it’s part performance art. “Breathing Barrel” is a moody, enigmatic piano- and hand drums-shaped offering that’s where cool jazz meets mysticism: Be the Breathing barrel with its pomegranate throat/And your mouth wide open the shape of the ocean. Barrel breathing is a yoga term, but this song seems to be more about discovering the divine within nature than anything one could do on a mat. “Daniel” is a reflection on the tale of its Old Testament namesake, and “Hoodoo” an amalgam of Badlands landscape and the Kaddish. It’s that kind of album, whatever that might be. I simply surrendered to its stark beauty.
Gessami Boada is a Spanish artist who often gets slapped with a jazz label. On començo jo fits, yet it doesn’t. “Com is no fossis ningú” could be considered jazz, but it also has big vocal rises more in keeping with commercial pop. “Oh What a Night” is a fragile little song that, once one subtracts the vibes, sounds as if it’s a poignant moment from a musical. “Los Dos” opens with jazzy guitar runs, but eventually sashays and sways–another mashup. Much of the categorical ambiguity is due to Boada’s voice, which is supple enough to cross genres but sounds as if it’s best fitted for hook-laden songs. “In the Shadows of Your Mind” is instrumentally sparse, but Boada’s vocals are playful and take us to places that are definitely better suited for the age of YouTube.
Steven Keene is an artist with a social conscience whose music toggles between protest and acoustic blues. An album titled Them & Us pretty much tells you which side he’s on. He’s topped by a black chapeau on the album cover, but a listen to the title cut suggests he ought to be wearing a white one. If you are wondering where protest music has gone, you’ve not been hanging out in Keene’s neighborhood. It opens with a line that’s obviously cribbed from Dylan and uses it to questions about all manner of social injustices, beginning with the inanity of border walls broadly defined. You’ll also hear echoes of Dion’s “Abraham, Martin and John,” weaves several other protest songs into the mix, updates them musically, and leaves us shattered by how relevant they remain. “On “Save Yourself,” Keene turns to electric blues to explore other current issues and deliver the message: Before you save the word/Save yourself. Like all great troubadours, Keene has his requisite love song, though his “I Can’t Have You” has a twisty core of regret. Mostly, though, Keene is both a righteous and upbeat guy. “We’ll Find a Way” defines his outlook–name the obstacles and figure out how to overcome them. Kudos to Keene for an album that’s simultaneously retro and as relevant as the morning news.
If you need a refuge break from heaviness, Sierra Hull will do the trick. Check out “Beautifully Out of Place” to see why she’s one of the meteors streaking across the bluegrass skies. Think that’s a fluke? Listen to her give old Johann a workout on Bach’s “Sonata No. 3 in C Major.” And she was just goofing off! She serves up a meaty mando-based cover of “People Get Ready,” and, yeah, she can kick butt on guitar too. She does Bill Monroe proud on “Old Ebenezer Scrooge.” Check out her other videos to see how far she’s come in just a few short years. I swear there can’t be any bones in her hands. Hull’s just 25, so I have a feeling this meteor will get brighter still.
Rob Weir
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