THE ROAD HAMMERS II
The Road Hammers
Open Road Records
9-out-of-10
When Clayton Bellamy, Jason McCoy and Chris Byrne formed up as the Road Hammers, doing so under the scrutiny of a television camera leading to a show which caught a lot of attention, they started a phenomena.
The band’s first CD release recycled a bunch of trucking songs, pumping them up with a southern fried, rock, country sound which caught the attention of both radio and listeners.
These boys came out hot with slick production, and a killer sound which was infectious.
Now the trio is back with their sophomore effort.
In terms of bands, the second album is often the one which leaves listeners shaking their heads. It is pushed out quicker than first efforts, and often comes up short.
The good news is that while only on their second recording as the Road Hammers, Clayton Bellamy, Jason McCoy and Chris Byrne are all veterans of the Canadian music scene. There are no signs of the dreaded sophomore slump.
Road Hammers II hits you hard from the get go with the killer cut Homegrown, and just bubbles, cooks, boils, through the next 10 songs.
In fact in some respects this CD takes it up a notch, since this disk has more of a Road Hammers feel. That comes from the three members writing more of the material.
Homegrown, Gettin’ Screwed, Cowboy ’Til I Die, and No Time For Long Goodbyes, are among the songs the players have had a hand in writing. There is a resulting feel that this music is more the personality of The Road Hammers, than the first disk, and that disk was about as good as it gets in terms of country.
That said, The Road Hammers’ rendition of the classic Thank God I’m A Country Boy is a killer track.
The maturity and experience of Bellamy, McCoy, and Byrne shows on II, and proves rather quickly this was more than a gimmick band established for one truckin’ CD.
This is a definite must have country effort. Check them out at www.myspace.com/theroadhammers
— CALVIN DANIELS
-- Review first appeared in Yorkton This Week newspaper Oct. 21, 2009 - Yorkton, SK. Canada
Friday, October 23, 2009
Review -- AGNOSTIC MOUNTAIN GOSPEL CHOIR -- Ten Thousand
TEN THOUSAND
Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir
Shoutin’ Abner Pim Recordings
9-out-of-10
To say I was surprised when I put Ten Thousand in the CD player would be an understatement.
This is a group of four guys from Alberta producing an all original recording of music which has the sound of old south country blues. When I say old south, I mean a century ago. I was frankly blown away.
The Calgary-based unit features Peter Balkwill on drums; Bob Keelaghan on guitars and vocals; Judd Palmer on banjo, low slide guitar, harmonica, and vocals; and Vladimir Sobolewski with the upright bass. The instrumentation has a bluegrass feel.
In many ways the sound draws from an era when bluegrass, blues, country and gospel were basically all one and the same, before they began to diverge into separate musical genres.
The CD starts with the song Go Back Home. The song is a near anthem for the style the Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir.
From there the Choir has come up with 14-songs which fit the retro style.
Songs such as The Boig, Never Be Dead, Rainstorms In My Knees, and Dark Holler are among the cuts here which impressed.
This is a winning album which shows how a band can break away from the norm, and create a sound that you don’t hear everyday, but you should. Find this disk, it’s a rare gem.
Check them out at www.theagnostics.com
— CALVIN DANIELS
-- Review first appeared in Yorkton This Week newspaper Oct. 21, 2009 - Yorkton, SK. Canada
Review -- CATHY-ANNE McCLINTOCK -- Self-Titled
SELF-TITLED
Cathy-Anne McClintock
37 Records
7-out-of-10
Cathy-Anne McClintock is an artist who terms her music Americana. For those unfamiliar with that term, I relate it to folk music, with a string old-style country music feel to it.
The sound really comes through on a cut such as So American.
When in the ‘Americana groove’ McClintock is at her best.
There are times the sound veers off course a bit. The lead cut How Can We Be Friends is an example. I found myself questioning exactly what sort of CD it was going to be at that point, because it has a sort of jazz, or show tune undercurrent.
Fortunately, more of the disk is material such as the song Strong Enough, which allows McClintock’s sweet comfortable voice to take the limelight.
McClintock’s voice is certainly the strength here, although be forewarned, it is an acquired taste to an extent as well. It is a sweet voice, which by the time I got to song 13, I had had my fill of. I will admit that’s a personal taste, but it is a factor.
If you like the Americana genre and a female voice in the higher range, then this will be your cup of tea.
Check out this disk at www.cathyannemcclintock.com
-- CALVIN DANIELS
-- Review first appeared in Yorkton This Week newspaper Oct. 21, 2009 - Yorkton, SK. Canada
Cathy-Anne McClintock
37 Records
7-out-of-10
Cathy-Anne McClintock is an artist who terms her music Americana. For those unfamiliar with that term, I relate it to folk music, with a string old-style country music feel to it.
The sound really comes through on a cut such as So American.
When in the ‘Americana groove’ McClintock is at her best.
There are times the sound veers off course a bit. The lead cut How Can We Be Friends is an example. I found myself questioning exactly what sort of CD it was going to be at that point, because it has a sort of jazz, or show tune undercurrent.
Fortunately, more of the disk is material such as the song Strong Enough, which allows McClintock’s sweet comfortable voice to take the limelight.
McClintock’s voice is certainly the strength here, although be forewarned, it is an acquired taste to an extent as well. It is a sweet voice, which by the time I got to song 13, I had had my fill of. I will admit that’s a personal taste, but it is a factor.
If you like the Americana genre and a female voice in the higher range, then this will be your cup of tea.
Check out this disk at www.cathyannemcclintock.com
-- CALVIN DANIELS
-- Review first appeared in Yorkton This Week newspaper Oct. 21, 2009 - Yorkton, SK. Canada
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Review -- WILLIE MACK -- The Journey
THE JOURNEY
Willie Mack
Aim Music
7.5-out-of-10
Willie Mack is a country artist who fits today’s vision of country.
Mack is sleek musically. There are no edgy risks here. The lyrics are catchy. They are clipped and manicured for country radio, or what passes for country today.
The sound is shiny, catchy, sort of the equivalent of what pop is to rock.
Add in what I suspect most gals would see as hot looks, I would ask my wife but she’s sleeping late as I write this, and you have a well-measured country package in Mack.
Now you might want Mack to at times risk just a little more musically. He sticks to the well-paved highway here, never getting close to taking a grid road that might throw up a rock or two, let alone hitting a dirt road to roar off in a cloud of dust.
That said, success is measured in terms of radio play in the world of music today, and there is a half-ton truck load of potential radio singles among the 16-songs here.
By the way, you have to love an artist who offers up 16-songs in an era many artists are content pumping out six-song EPs.
So what are the hits here?
Well, Just the Way You Are comes to mind immediately. Very catchy.
Of course you can say that about I’m Gonna Love Her, and You’re My Hometown, and several other songs here.
In most cases they will easily make a radio rotation, although most won’t be remembered too long. They are hits today and forgotten tomorrow country, but hey that sells today.
There are songs you just know are going to be on music request shows for years into the future. Mack has at least come up with one of those songs with She Won’t Be Little Long. Dads who are into country music will be requesting this one for daughter’s birthday’s for years. It really does capture the sentiment of fathers. I know the lyrics had me thinking of Heather when she was a little girl (had to add that to see if she reads dad’s reviews).
Mack also can also do the tongue-in-cheek, yet fun song. Howdy Eh is a decidedly Canadian tune that touches on patriotism on this side of the 49th, and touches on many of the little idiosyncrasies which make us Canucks.
In general terms I might like greater depth here, but I will admit I got caught up in the catchy effort Mack puts forward. This may be fast-food country, but at least it’s good fast food, sort of the Fuddrucker’s burger of country.
Check it out at www.williemack.com
— CALVIN DANIELS
-- Review first appeared in Yorkton This Week newspaper Oct. 14, 2009 - Yorkton, SK. Canada
Willie Mack
Aim Music
7.5-out-of-10
Willie Mack is a country artist who fits today’s vision of country.
Mack is sleek musically. There are no edgy risks here. The lyrics are catchy. They are clipped and manicured for country radio, or what passes for country today.
The sound is shiny, catchy, sort of the equivalent of what pop is to rock.
Add in what I suspect most gals would see as hot looks, I would ask my wife but she’s sleeping late as I write this, and you have a well-measured country package in Mack.
Now you might want Mack to at times risk just a little more musically. He sticks to the well-paved highway here, never getting close to taking a grid road that might throw up a rock or two, let alone hitting a dirt road to roar off in a cloud of dust.
That said, success is measured in terms of radio play in the world of music today, and there is a half-ton truck load of potential radio singles among the 16-songs here.
By the way, you have to love an artist who offers up 16-songs in an era many artists are content pumping out six-song EPs.
So what are the hits here?
Well, Just the Way You Are comes to mind immediately. Very catchy.
Of course you can say that about I’m Gonna Love Her, and You’re My Hometown, and several other songs here.
In most cases they will easily make a radio rotation, although most won’t be remembered too long. They are hits today and forgotten tomorrow country, but hey that sells today.
There are songs you just know are going to be on music request shows for years into the future. Mack has at least come up with one of those songs with She Won’t Be Little Long. Dads who are into country music will be requesting this one for daughter’s birthday’s for years. It really does capture the sentiment of fathers. I know the lyrics had me thinking of Heather when she was a little girl (had to add that to see if she reads dad’s reviews).
Mack also can also do the tongue-in-cheek, yet fun song. Howdy Eh is a decidedly Canadian tune that touches on patriotism on this side of the 49th, and touches on many of the little idiosyncrasies which make us Canucks.
In general terms I might like greater depth here, but I will admit I got caught up in the catchy effort Mack puts forward. This may be fast-food country, but at least it’s good fast food, sort of the Fuddrucker’s burger of country.
Check it out at www.williemack.com
— CALVIN DANIELS
-- Review first appeared in Yorkton This Week newspaper Oct. 14, 2009 - Yorkton, SK. Canada
Review -- GREG WOOD -- Self Titled
SELF-TITLED
Greg Wood
Indie
6.5-out-of-10
It’s always refreshing when you toss a disk on the player, not sure what to expect. Greg Wood’s full-length debut was like that. The cover is pretty simple, just sort of an art silhouette and the performer’s name. It could as easily be classical guitar, or folk.
However, Wood throws us pure rock. I say pure rock because that’s what it is. This is in the sweet spot between metal and its walls of pounding guitars, and the sugar rush of pop.
Wood plays solid, if not usually inspired guitar, which is the perfect accompaniment to his solid vocal effort. Wood has a clear, resonating voice which really carries the music here.
There isn’t really a soft spot here. Some of the songs though do rise above the norm. I, in particular like Drift Away and its use of acoustic guitar work. It is simple, effective, memorable, all the things you should like in a song.
Bedroom Eyes is another cut where Wood has a winner, although this one has a more electric feel to it. Wake Up follows the same pattern.
Wood, who hails from Alberta, has created a solid album which should draw attention from listeners who will no doubt be watching for whatever comes next.
Check it out at www.gotgregwood.com
— CALVIN DANIELS
-- Review first appeared in Yorkton This Week newspaper Oct. 14, 2009 - Yorkton, SK. Canada
Greg Wood
Indie
6.5-out-of-10
It’s always refreshing when you toss a disk on the player, not sure what to expect. Greg Wood’s full-length debut was like that. The cover is pretty simple, just sort of an art silhouette and the performer’s name. It could as easily be classical guitar, or folk.
However, Wood throws us pure rock. I say pure rock because that’s what it is. This is in the sweet spot between metal and its walls of pounding guitars, and the sugar rush of pop.
Wood plays solid, if not usually inspired guitar, which is the perfect accompaniment to his solid vocal effort. Wood has a clear, resonating voice which really carries the music here.
There isn’t really a soft spot here. Some of the songs though do rise above the norm. I, in particular like Drift Away and its use of acoustic guitar work. It is simple, effective, memorable, all the things you should like in a song.
Bedroom Eyes is another cut where Wood has a winner, although this one has a more electric feel to it. Wake Up follows the same pattern.
Wood, who hails from Alberta, has created a solid album which should draw attention from listeners who will no doubt be watching for whatever comes next.
Check it out at www.gotgregwood.com
— CALVIN DANIELS
-- Review first appeared in Yorkton This Week newspaper Oct. 14, 2009 - Yorkton, SK. Canada
Review -- JJ GUY -- Fiddler
FIDDLER
JJ Guy
Indie
8-out-of-10
If you’re going to put out a fiddle CD, how can you go wrong leading with the traditional Buffalo Gals? The song is so universally familiar that it automatically gets people in the mood for what is to follow.
In the case of JJ Guy’s latest effort, entitled simply Fiddler, what follows is a 13-song CD of old-fashioned fiddle music.
While the style is old, much of the music is new. A number of the pieces here -- it is an all instrumental album -- were written by Guy. Credit Guy with the ability to write material that fits in perfectly with traditional numbers, or those such as Dad’s Favorite Jig by the great Don Messer.
Cuts such as Waltz for Larry Ross, Chicken in the Hay, and Slow Rain mesh perfectly stylistically.
Of course a fiddle CD is ultimately measured by the performer’s skill with the bow. Well Guy hits the bull's eye here. He can turn the tempo down, as is the case with Slow Rain, or fire up the engines and burn off some fast-paced fiddle with seemingly equal ease.
Fiddler follows Guy 2007 release Cadillac, and is every bit the equal of the earlier effort. That says a lot since Cadillac pulled an 8-out-of-10 when reviewed here.
Guy has a practiced, relaxed style, not surprising given the fact this Saskatchewan-born fiddler has been playing across Western Canada for years, including a stint with the well-known Midnight Ramblers.
This is a must for lovers of old time fiddle. Check it out at www.jjguy.ca
— CALVIN DANIELS
-- Review first appeared in Yorkton This Week newspaper Oct. 14, 2009 - Yorkton, SK. Canada
JJ Guy
Indie
8-out-of-10
If you’re going to put out a fiddle CD, how can you go wrong leading with the traditional Buffalo Gals? The song is so universally familiar that it automatically gets people in the mood for what is to follow.
In the case of JJ Guy’s latest effort, entitled simply Fiddler, what follows is a 13-song CD of old-fashioned fiddle music.
While the style is old, much of the music is new. A number of the pieces here -- it is an all instrumental album -- were written by Guy. Credit Guy with the ability to write material that fits in perfectly with traditional numbers, or those such as Dad’s Favorite Jig by the great Don Messer.
Cuts such as Waltz for Larry Ross, Chicken in the Hay, and Slow Rain mesh perfectly stylistically.
Of course a fiddle CD is ultimately measured by the performer’s skill with the bow. Well Guy hits the bull's eye here. He can turn the tempo down, as is the case with Slow Rain, or fire up the engines and burn off some fast-paced fiddle with seemingly equal ease.
Fiddler follows Guy 2007 release Cadillac, and is every bit the equal of the earlier effort. That says a lot since Cadillac pulled an 8-out-of-10 when reviewed here.
Guy has a practiced, relaxed style, not surprising given the fact this Saskatchewan-born fiddler has been playing across Western Canada for years, including a stint with the well-known Midnight Ramblers.
This is a must for lovers of old time fiddle. Check it out at www.jjguy.ca
— CALVIN DANIELS
-- Review first appeared in Yorkton This Week newspaper Oct. 14, 2009 - Yorkton, SK. Canada
Review -- DOC WALKER -- Go
GO
Doc Walker
Open Road Recordings
8-out-of-10
Doc Walker is a band I always appreciate listening too, in large part because they are a group which I have been able to watch grow. It wasn’t all that many years ago they were just a Manitoba bar band, out on the road developing a sound, a following, growing as musicians.
It’s nice to see a band pursuing a dream, and then for the most part capturing it.
Certainly today when it comes to Canadian country – which by the way is as good as anything out of Nashville, it just doesn’t come with the mystique of that city’s fabled past – Doc Walker is fighting for the top of the ladder.
At the recent Western Canadian Music Awards Doc Walker were honored with Country Album of the Year for their CD Beautiful Life.
Go is the follow-up disk to the WCMA winner, and that means it’s a CD which was a little scary to give a spin too. There is nothing harder in the world of music than to follow up a disk which received an acclaimed award. It gets even harder when the new disk is released rather quickly. The situation is one where the musicians are forced into building a new library of top-drawer material in a shorter span of time.
Well, the boys in Doc Walker need to step forward and take a bow for what they have managed on Go.
Chris Thorsteinson, Dave Wasyliw and Murray Pulver who make up Doc Walker have a knack for writing country which comes across as radio friendly.
Now I might point out that I generally like my country music a little off the beaten path. The less it fits today’s country radio format, usually the better. Yet here I will admit Doc Walker’s country is rather infectious.
Sure there are times when it gets a bit to poppy, like the repeated ‘la la la’ line on Girls In Their Summer Clothes. Come on that was a bit much.
But then they come back with the heartfelt title cut Go, and you have to forgive them for the aforementioned miss.
There are 10-cuts on this CD, and nine are very solid effort, and frankly any of the nine could go top-10 radio. That says a lot about how well Doc Walker understands today’s country.
As for best cuts … hmmmm … that’s a hard one here, but Dancin’ All Night is excellent, as are Speed of Life and If I Fall.
This is a definite winner for a band which was already at the top of their game.
Hard to find fault for a winning formula like these guys have put together. If you are a country fan … then grab this disk today.
Check them out at www.docwalker.ca
— CALVIN DANIELS
-- Review first appeared in Yorkton This Week newspaper Oct. 7, 2009 - Yorkton, SK. Canada
Doc Walker
Open Road Recordings
8-out-of-10
Doc Walker is a band I always appreciate listening too, in large part because they are a group which I have been able to watch grow. It wasn’t all that many years ago they were just a Manitoba bar band, out on the road developing a sound, a following, growing as musicians.
It’s nice to see a band pursuing a dream, and then for the most part capturing it.
Certainly today when it comes to Canadian country – which by the way is as good as anything out of Nashville, it just doesn’t come with the mystique of that city’s fabled past – Doc Walker is fighting for the top of the ladder.
At the recent Western Canadian Music Awards Doc Walker were honored with Country Album of the Year for their CD Beautiful Life.
Go is the follow-up disk to the WCMA winner, and that means it’s a CD which was a little scary to give a spin too. There is nothing harder in the world of music than to follow up a disk which received an acclaimed award. It gets even harder when the new disk is released rather quickly. The situation is one where the musicians are forced into building a new library of top-drawer material in a shorter span of time.
Well, the boys in Doc Walker need to step forward and take a bow for what they have managed on Go.
Chris Thorsteinson, Dave Wasyliw and Murray Pulver who make up Doc Walker have a knack for writing country which comes across as radio friendly.
Now I might point out that I generally like my country music a little off the beaten path. The less it fits today’s country radio format, usually the better. Yet here I will admit Doc Walker’s country is rather infectious.
Sure there are times when it gets a bit to poppy, like the repeated ‘la la la’ line on Girls In Their Summer Clothes. Come on that was a bit much.
But then they come back with the heartfelt title cut Go, and you have to forgive them for the aforementioned miss.
There are 10-cuts on this CD, and nine are very solid effort, and frankly any of the nine could go top-10 radio. That says a lot about how well Doc Walker understands today’s country.
As for best cuts … hmmmm … that’s a hard one here, but Dancin’ All Night is excellent, as are Speed of Life and If I Fall.
This is a definite winner for a band which was already at the top of their game.
Hard to find fault for a winning formula like these guys have put together. If you are a country fan … then grab this disk today.
Check them out at www.docwalker.ca
— CALVIN DANIELS
-- Review first appeared in Yorkton This Week newspaper Oct. 7, 2009 - Yorkton, SK. Canada
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