Album Reviews: Blackie & the Rodeo Kings – South; Shannon Lyon – Broken Things; Scott Law – Black Mountain

It’s hard to imagine better fuel for the voyage than South, a collection of original songs that showcases the collected talents of an its three core members. If you’re ever looking for an example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts you could do worse than grabbing a copy of South and holding it up. With parts this talented, that’s a pretty impressive achievement.

South demonstrates that Blackie and the Rodeo Kings are capable of doing just about anything they set their mind too: North and South the album’s openers are moody twangy country numbers in the tradition of the best that Johnny Cash and Hank Williams had to offer; I’d Have to be a Stone offers up a blues tinged take on Elvis; Everything I Am channels classic Buddy Holly era sounds and Reinventing the Wheel of Love adds a fantastic flamenco touch to the band’s sound.

Anchored primarily by Tom Wilson’s moody, deep voice the sound is wholly original and distinctive. When Stephen Fearing takes over the vocals, the sound changes but remains strong. Beneath it all Colin Linden’s guitar work is a solid foundation on which to layer the material. (Linden has received much praise after finishing a tour with Bob Dylan, but the material here showcases his prodigious talents quite a bit more openly.)

South is one of the strongest collections of material I’ve heard in quite a while and—despite a January release date—I’m calling this one a strong contender for year end best of lists.

“Gas her up and burn her down / and when we stop we’ll call it home” South continues. The band is heading out on tour to promote the release—don’t miss them if they come your way and make sure to welcome them home because there’s a better than average chance they’ll be back and the room you’re in is going to be a lot bigger.

Though Broken Things is Shannon Lyon’s 10th studio release, I’d never heard of him before. That’s a shame because Lyon has a deep, rich, and distinctive voice that Broken Things does a fine job of showcasing.

Musically, the self produced album is sparsely arranged and it that suits Lyon well by pushing that voice out to the front. Songs like Warm Friend Lay With Me with its opening of “When there is no lover / there is no friend” mine the feelings of love and loss that never cease to be popular. Lyon’s voice is well suited for this: it’s one that you’re not going to confuse for a happy go lucky sound anytime soon.

If Lyon’s work sounds familiar at first it’s probably tripping the part of your memory that listens to singers like Ray LaMontagne, Nick Drake and Jay Farrar. This is quiet, contemplating and introspective music that’s perfect for a dark winter night at home where the care that goes into crafting this kind of material can shine through.

Broken Things is well worth having, and after a few lessons you may find it working its way into your subconscious—particularly appealing tracks are the album’s eponymous opener, I Do Not Wonder and On Losing Your Friends which features fantastic acoustic guitar work.

Scott Law’s Black Mountain has been out for a while, but sort of slipped through the cracks of my life. It’s shame because it’s twang tinged fiddle accompanied bluegrass sound is one I like quite a bit. Law’s voice has a southern drawl that nicely fits the instrumentation of choice here.

Proving that he’s not afraid to let the music do the talking, Black Mountain is peppered with a few instrumentals that do a nice job of demonstrating the collected musician’s skill. The banjo tends to come to the forefront in these numbers, particularly the very fun Melinda’s Reel. Law is accompanied by Aofie O’Donovan on a couple of tracks here and the interplay of voices makes those amongst the standout tracks.

Despite the fact he now lives in Portland, Law’s lyrics draw heavily on the mystique of life in the the south—a good example is Big Lightning Over Kansas and I’ll Stay Around. 

While there’s nothing terribly surprising to found her, what is here is very well done. The album’s mix of vocal talent and solid instrumental work mark Law as an artist to watch for the future. Watch the video below to see how a fiddle based reel becomes something else entirely when the fiddle is absent. Keep an eye out for the next album because it should be interesting to watch Law’s music continue to grow.