How about a five-way tie for best artist of the month? I lucked upon some amazing music and can honestly say that any of all of these would make a wonderful addition to your playlist.
Ruth Moody is the songwriting anchor of the Wailin’ Jennys, but this Winnipeg-based artist is a solo treat all on her own. Any musician would assert that Wanderer is a good title for a record, but Moody means it on more cylinders than one–coming of age, relationships, motherhood, musing on the meaning of home, and life’s ups and downs. Her music is often filed under bluegrass, but Wanderer is more folky in its emphasis on lyrics, polished but understated arrangements, and a voice as calming as a breeze through the sweetgrass. Moody sings of her journey to contentment on the Wanderer. Nor is she afraid to be vulnerable or admit to bouts of self-doubt. “Already Free” is an example: I’m running from the future or the past/Or somebody I can never be… Maybe I’m already free. She even revisits adolescent regrets in "Seventeen,” and if it’s not putting yourself out there to back to that age, you were raised in a sealed bunker! “Twilight” is another small gem. Add it up and you have a musical treasure chest.
Lynne Hanson has been lionized on this blog before and Just a Poet is the latest reason to celebrate. She’s also Canadian, but she shatters images of northern niceness by exploring the skeptical side of life. “Spray Paint” has meaty hooks, but is the relationship about which she’s singing ending or finding its way to new beginnings? Number two is doubtful! Hanson’s alto voice gives everything she does a slightly dark edge of mystery, including herself. “Outlaw Lover” poses as a confessional in which she’s bad news in many ways, including being the blue tattoo that your mama fears. This one draws comparisons to Bonnie Raitt’s blues-influenced country/folk approach. Hanson calls such songs “raw Truth” and that’s pretty good tag. “Just a Little Bit” is heartbreak country and this time it’s someone else who might deliver pain Great line: Heartbreak hurts but it never killed anyone. Detect a theme? In the doomed affair of “Rubik’s Cube” she describes herself as being as jumbled as that puzzle. Hanson is on the money about singing raw truth. One suspects that “Weeds” might be the most autobiographical selection on the record. It has a strong walking beat and delivers the message that she is putting all of me in every single song I ever wrote/Ain’t work ‘cause I do it for me.
Beth Bombara sometimes sings with the birdlike delicacy of Patty Griffin, even when she’s been a rock n’ roller. It All Goes Up is a departure. She picks up an acoustic guitar on “Curious and Free” and sings Don’t have to know where we’re going/As long as the tide keeps pulling in. The overall treatment is mysterious–from the catch in her voice to its melancholy feel and a “fiddle” that’s probably a mellotron, an early electronic keyboard/computer hybrid. “Electricity” is a mix of old and new. It has passages with the frangibility of love songs, but with electric breakouts that pulse with… well… electricity. Bombara is a Tom Petty fan and “Lonely Walls” has the vibe of one of Petty’s more introspective songs. “Everything I Wanted” is almost classic Bombara in that it’s bop rock served with blue-collar attitude and irony. I’ve been following Bombara for a few years and, though I like her hard surfaces more than the shiny ones, I applaud the fact that she keeps testing her limits.
If I told you I had an album titled Trains, Thinkin’ and Drinkin’ from a guy who uses his initials as his first name, and dropped a single called “Damn Shame,” you’d probably start thinking Alabama, Tennessee, or maybe Kentucky. Nope. J. M. Clifford is a Brooklyn native and an elementary school teacher. He underlined the conjunction on the cover of his new album and, from where I sit, he’s heavier on the thinkin’ than the drinkin’. Like many of us, he had time to think during Covid lockdown, plus he was dealing with the aftermath of a divorce. “Damn Shame” is a good song, but “Complicated Man” gets to the heart of the matter even better. He takes the wind out of his own sails on the self-effacing first song, its upbeat bluegrass tempo a veil over his broken relationship. He cowrote “Complicated Man” with Ron Pope. It’s an infectious bluegrass song featuring mighty fine picking and a mountain music gospel feel. No wonder he draws Norman Blake comparisons. It’s worth plenty to hear Clifford pick. When it’s available, check out “Billy Goose.” By the way, the title track is bathed in irony.
Speaking of drinking, how about a song called “I Like Drinking Beer?” It’s performed like a Texas two-step and is a litany of all the things the band loves with the punchline and I like drinking beer. Welcome to the Moonsville Collective, a California quintet that plays old-time music and not-so-old songs that sound timeless. They also like having fun and don’t always take themselves seriously. They have a song titled “Ain’t Got No Home,” but it’s not the one penned by Woody Guthrie, and give a string band treatment to “Red Rocking Chair.” They also do one called “Long Gone” because, why not add still another song of that name to the annals of music. A Hundred Highways, their first new record in half a dozen years. Ya’ gotta love any band with the cheek to do a song titled “Helen Highway.” You want drinking songs? They’ve got a million of them!
Rob Weir
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