Spirit Family Reunion

Spirit Family Reunion

by: Moose

Hailing from New York City Spirit Family Reunion bring a brand of folk music that takes you to a place where old and new come together. Where the country and city brought together and dance around each other. From banjo frailing, to sawing fiddle, and at times double percussion they keep you moving because if you stand still for too long as quickly as the song started it will have been gone. With gravelly vocals and those rolling down the line melodies they are good time to be had. They bring gospel, folk, and bluegrassy songs from being hidden and now back in your barn, bar, or subway station.

The stomping of your foot to the beat can’t be helped it’s infectious. The sway when you listen is okay also because they will take you to a place once forgotten and make it new again. A sound that was lost is now found. Spirit Family Reunion share in the experience their live show is uncanny and one that as much as they give up on that stage or street corner so will the listener. WIth two albums Spirit Family Reunion and No Separation and even a songbook they invite to enjoy the road that they have travelled and the journey that they are on simply through their brand of Americana, old timey folk styling.

They will be coming to our fair Cincinnati to play Buckle Up and with it their will be no shortage of foot stomping, clapping, sawing fiddle, banjo frailing, driving percussion, and sheer good times. They give all they got and leave it on the stage and all that heart and passion for their music strums that chord within all of us who simply enjoy music. No comparison is needed with these folks they do it their own way, and they invite you in to get lost with them.  

Al Scorch & the Country Soul Ensemble

Al Scorch & the Country Soul Ensemble

by: Moose

Al Scorch and the Country Soul Ensemble call the windy city of Chicago their home and through maddening, lightning fast clawhammer banjo there is no shortage of high energy with these folks. With songs that penetrate a different way of thinking. These are original tunes that incorporate a cast of different characters. Al gets the inspiration from watching the people on the street. The most finite detail can become something in a song. The stain on a jacket, that slightly odd indifference, almost about anything Al can write it up in his head as rediscovers a way to get it out. Not one for the traditional, while those ways have been inspirational, Al doesn’t want it to be predictable. It’s the unknown that makes him “well up” or “gives him the chills.”

While Al is a student of musical history and the traditions laid before him he is not bound by them. For him his sound is sort of like, in his own words, “An Irish ghost on a gypsy pirate ship drinking beer with a cowboy. What the hell is it? Where is it coming from?” Al’s mom played banjo and his dad played guitar and piano. Through this and hearing Pete Seeger and Dolly Parton records at a young age he thought “the banjo sounds pretty cool.” He has been at this for 8 years now everywhere and anywhere and everything in between. Something he is really fond of is playing house shows. They aren’t printed in a newspaper it is a simple as a flyer goes up, phone calls are made, a facebook page is created and everyone brings their own beer, again according to Al. Who by his own right is a very do it yourself kind of artist, and very much a live performer. If he isn’t a sweating mess by the end of a show something just wasn’t right. He pours his heart into every performance to give the folks that listen something to remember him by.

With that all said Al Scorch and the Country Soul Ensemble have put together this folky, old timey, Chicagoy, cacophonous sound that takes his own characters who have lived their own rough lives and wraps them around blazing banjo licks and tearing down the rail melodies. Al and the fellas will leave all out there on that proverbial stage for our listening pleasure come this Saturday at Buckle Up and it one performance that will definitely not disappoint.

Jamestown Revival: The Difference Between Making and Not, Don't Stop

http://shar.es/P8KxZ

 

Jamestown Revival is Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance and they have recently released their first full length album, Utah. Which is fitting as the album was recorded over a two week period in a cabin within the Wasatch Mountains in Utah. I recently had...

 

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Dexter L. Roush: A Man Who Smiled All the Way Home

Dexter L. Roush: A Man Who Smiled All the Way Home

Buffalo Killers

Buffalo Killers

A review by Moose

 

 

           Buffalo Killers are a homegrown rock 'n' roll band from right here in Ohio. Andrew Gabbard (vocals and guitar), his brother Zachary Gabbard (bass guitar), and drummer Joseph Sebaali make up this band that is heavy on the hooks but not lacking the rock. These three fine musicians came from a band called Thee Shams, and sometimes as most often bands do they broke up. But these three guys branched off regrouped and formed Buffalo Killers in October of 2006. Lucky for us they kept it going, because with their brand of classic rock it combines and old sound with a new taste.

 

 

        Andrew and Zach grew up with music all around them. A guitar playing father taught them how to play at an early age to the classic rock that their father was listening too. It was inevitable that they would form a band it was just a matter of when. As their father laid they ground work the boys got better and soon found themselves releasing their debut self-titled album as Buffalo Killers. Their father taught them and they soon found themselves getting help from an unlikely person, that being Chris Robinson the front man for The Black Crowes. Who heard their debut album and invited Buffalo Killers to open up for him on a string of tour dates in 2007. Then if that wasn't enough, their second album Let it Ride, was produced by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys. This kind of attention made the inevitable dream now reality, and they have been laying the rock down for a long while.

 

      Their latest album Heavy Reverie has brought this former power trio a new member. Sven Kahns now adds another guitar and a lap steel to make this band even more unique than it already was. According to Andrew with Sven joining them it now "frees them up"  they don't have to do so much. With the new album in tow, which according to Houstonpress.com in a recent interview with one of the Gabbards, he said it took all of "five days" to record the ten tracks, and in an era where some bands take months to release a follow up it is quite a pleasure to know that these fellas just went in there and rocked it, Buffalo Killers style. This being their fifth full-length album they were able to work with Jim Wirt who has worked with Incubus and Fiona Apple amongst many others. He helped them keep within their style, but also grow within their songs. These Buffalo Killers are establishing themselves with this new album as hard working musicians can go, and their hard work is paying off.

 

      The album has been completed and let the touring begin as these Buffalo Killers grace Cincinnati this Saturday April 12th at Motr Pub. The show will sure to be harkening back to those classic rock days, but with a Buffalo Killers touch. They bring the loud and if you are looking for somebody new to see, or just wanting to see these fine folks again head over to Motr and find out why Chris Robinson said "they're the best (expletive) rock 'n' roll bands in the world."

 

 





Shoot Out The Lights: Lets Get Lost

Shoot Out The Lights: Lets Get Lost

The new album

Review by: Moose

Shoot Out The Lights, or SOTL, is a rock and roll band formed here in Cincinnati, Ohio circa 2009. Josh Muddiman on raspy throaty vocals and guitar, Elaina “Laney” McCormick vocals and keys, Matt “Mook” McCormick lead guitar, Joshua Howard bass and vocals, and Alan Topolski on drums round out this band that at its simplest form is just rock and roll.  This is their second album which was self produced at All Nighter Studio by Tommy Capel.

    SOTL brings a soulfulness to their style of rock and roll whereas the listener you truly can just get lost. The melodies are crisp and clean via the keys and guitar tones. The vocals and lyrics well formed around those melodies, and through this album they bring their styles all too the forefront, and by rock and roll standards this album can hold it’s own. These fine folks in SOTL are bringing a refreshing style of rock and roll to Cincinnati. They bring you into their space. There place where they formulate and construct straight to the teeth rock songs.

    They all share in the  songwriting process. Something that Joshua Howard and Josh Muddiman both told me under a night sky about two months ago. Making this a shared experience in making music with everyone involved. Lightening the load and making this more like a family. While recording this album they wanted to switch it up a bit. Moving “Mook” over to lead guitar and Josh Howard over to bass. Was a move by their own account “that may have brought demise to other bands” opened the door for more “thunderous and melodic bass grooves and fiery guitar riffs.”  By doing this you can hear a band that is coming into their own. The growth of playing together is evident on this album.

    Now as for the album itself. I was graced with the pleasure of getting an advanced listen, and these folks stay true to their roots with the rock and roll, but also, have songs that stay true to the jazz, blues, and country roots of Cincinnati their hometown. I did find myself getting lost in these songs. Whether it was lyrically, the melodies, or just the combination of the two they melded their roots and styles into about an hour long of nine tracks that flow just like our river, or with the weather about to warm up an album great for taking on your road trip.

    Some may say rock is dead, but that is just a matter of perspective, and with SOTL this is definitely not the case. There brand of rock brings it home. They amp it up at the live show, and it quite simply is straight up rock and roll. They bring it back where it came from and are showing us where it can go. Rock and roll is many things, and can be many things, but SOTL has found their way of doing it. Has found within themselves how they can make it work, and it most certainly does.

    Their new album “Lets Get Lost” is releasing on March 14th with a release party at Northside Tavern here in Cincinnati, Ohio.  You can also find them at:

sotlmusic.com

facebook.com/sotlmusic1

twitter.com/shoot_lights

reverbnation.com/shootoutthelights

   

Ben Knight & David Faul

"The Apple Hill Sessions"

 

 

 

      Over the course of November and December of 2013 Ben Knight, from Ben Knight and the Welldiggers, and David Faul (formerly of Terminal Union and now with Josh Eagle and the Harvest City along with doing his own thing), got together and to work on some Travis style picking arrangements and songs. As the sessions were going well they decided to record a couple of these songs at David Faul's Apple Hill studio.

 

 

      Six songs made it onto this lovely EP. That however you listen to music, whether it be in your car just driving around or at home while lounging, resurrects a style that has been hidden in the underground. With Travis picking not being very much in the forefront, or in popular realms of music nowadays, these two gentlemen decided to pay homage to a style very much a part of them. And, for a moment introduce their fans and supporters to something a little different.

 

 

    With "Cannonbal Rag" as the opener to this EP, a song by Kennedy Jones, they lay the groundwork for the listener. The picking can take your mind back to a time that seems lost in this day and age. Hopping the rail with no penny to your name and seeing where this train will take you. "Homebody Blues" a song written by Ben Knight pretty much sums up how most people can feel sometimes. Just wanting to stay in and lounge around. "Deep River Blues" (Delmore Brothers), and "I'll See You In My Dreams" (Isham Jones) two songs that envoke a style that both Ben and Dave enjoy and wanted to share. "Apple Seed" closes out this fifteen minutes of chemisty between tow of the best songwriter's this city has to offer.  A Ben Knight and David Faul original. Won't say much else to this than if you see them pick up a copy for yourself. If you can't see them message David Faul at davidfaul@gmail.com for any orders.

 

 

    They came together out of a jam session and respect and love for each other, and at David Faul's Apple Hill Studio's messed around and layed some tracks down. Through that session of getting together realized they needed to get this EP out quick as Christmas was coming up. Luck for us they "clicked" and put this little gem together. The similarities of influence and style are right here within these fifteen minutes. Hopefully, in the future they would be kind enough to do something a little longer, but until then check out this EP. Go take a listen to Ben Knight and the Welldiggers at any of the numerous shows they have around town. As well as head on over to The Crow's Nest for David Faul's artist in residence there for the month of February. These two songwriter's and friends wanted to share the connection that music can bring, and here it is waiting to be heard.