Country music from a fan's point of view since 2008
Chris Hillman’s most recent solo project, The Other Side, was released nine years ago. Produced by Herb Pedersen, the fourteen-track album was issued by Sovereign Records.
Among the fourteen songs are nine that Hillman co-wrote with his longtime collaborator Steve Hill. “True Love” is a mid-tempo dobro and mandolin centric number about the joy marriage and children bring to life. “Drifiting,” an acoustic ballad, is gorgeous and is similarly themed to “True Love.” Gospel themed “The Other Side,” adds a nice dose of fiddle into the mix and has an effecting lyric about heaven told through Hillman’s high lonesome bluegrass harmonies.
“Heaven Is My Home” is an excellent gospel themed acoustic ballad about God and the Pearly Gates that’s also beautifully executed. “Touch Me” is more of a country ballad, with acoustic touches, and it’s very, very good. I also quite enjoyed the mid-tempo bluegrass of “The Wheel,” thanks to Hillman’s harmonies and the stellar production bed.
Hillman and Hill also co-wrote “Heavenly Grace,” another excellent gospel flavored bluegrass number with beautiful ribbons of fiddle heard throughout. “I Know I Need You” and “Our Savior’s Hands” aren’t much different, while the latter is far more musically sparse, with acoustic guitar leading the way to frame Hillman’s voice.
Hillman co-wrote “It Doesn’t Matter” with Hill and folk singer Steven Stills and it’s one of the album’s strongest tracks, thanks to a production bed that allows room for Hillman’s voice to shine through. “Missing You,” which Hillman wrote with Richard Sellers and Tom Russell, follows the same pattern and is another wonderful song.
Two of the most interesting tracks on The Other Side are covers. Hillman gives a nice country-fried update to The Byrds “Eight Miles High” that transforms from 60s rock into stunning acoustic country. I love hearing the fiddle and mandolin front and center. The other cover is the traditional Celtic folk song “The Water Is Wide.” It’s the album’s centerpiece thanks to the crisp production and Hillman’s clear voice.
By all accounts The Other Side, an acoustic country meets bluegrass meets gospel album is an outstanding project. The musicianship is clean and crisp and none of the material is second-rate. I just wish Hillman’s voice were more prominent on most of the tracks, with his vocals pushed to the front, as opposed to being somewhat behind the instrument bed. That slight change would’ve made The Other Side a slam-dunk for me. But I’m probably just being nit-picky about an album that really doesn’t have any major faults or weaknesses
Grade: B+
In early 1990 The Desert Rose Band released their third album, Pages of Life, produced once again by Paul Worley and Ed Seay. The band’s third album, it was their most commercially successful, and their final charting release.
Chris Hillman and Steve Hill wrote the album’s three singles. Synth heavy ballad “Start All Over Again” peaked at #6, mid-tempo electric guitar and drum led “In Another Lifetime” peaked at #13 (their third single to peak outside the top 10), and steel laced “Story of Love” peaked at #10. All three of the singles are horribly dated by today’s standards, but the Byrds-era steel riffs on “Story Of Love” help it stand slightly above the pack.
At the time of its release, Pages of Life was distinguished for being a harder hitting album, even more so than the band’s two previous releases. Listening to it now, it isn’t terribly overly rock, although the drums are prominent. The album’s main shortcoming with regards to the arrangements is the synthesizers and use of late 80s production techniques that haven’t aged well at all in the last 24 years.
Beyond the three singles, Hillman co-write six more of the album’s tracks, three with Hill, and three more with other writers. Hillman and Hill co-wrote “God’s Plan,” another ballad heavy on synth that utilizes the band’s harmonies framed in a horrible 80s sheen that mixes grossly with the flourishes of steel guitar in the musical bed. “Time Passes Me By” is far more tasteful, with the steel allowed room to breathe, but it’s still not a home run. “Darkness on the Playground” is even better still, livelier, and has a nice sinister production to match its ‘social cause’ story about troubled youth.
Hillman co-wrote “Missing You” with Tom Russell and Richard Sellers. With glorious mandolin and the band’s tight harmonies, its easily one of the more country sounding tracks on Pages of Life, and a nice organic escape from the 80s sheen that suffocates most of the album. John Jorgenson co-wrote “Just A Memory” with Hillman and while track retains the awful 80s sheen, I don’t hate it, mostly because it also has a sunny vibe that keeps it somewhat engaging.
“Everybody’s Hero,” which Hillman co-wrote with Michael Woody, is another of the album’s better tracks. I like the drum work and overly uptempo vibe but Hillman’s lead vocal sounds a little listless given the energy of the backing track. Hillman’s final co-write is courtesy of “Desert Rose,” co-written with Bill Wildes. It sounds like something Emmylou Harris would record, and was originally done by Hillman on his solo album of the same name. It’s a fabulous number and I love how its decidedly country.
Overall Pages of Life is a shoddy album, thanks mostly to bad 80s style production that, as I aforementioned, hasn’t held up in the last 24 years. The songs themselves aren’t necessarily bad, but they’re made less enjoyable by the production.
Grade: B
Husband and wife bluegrass duo Darin and Brooke Aldridge have been steadily rising through the ranks of bluegrass over the past few years, and they show here how deserving they are of the accolades they have been receiving. The sweet, confident voice of Brooke takes the lead on the majority of songs, and female songwriters (notably Lisa Shaffer and Becky Buller) dominate, with at least one woman contributing to every song included. As one might expect from a happily married couple, the material leans to positive love songs with spiritual undertones, but any lack of variety in themes is made up for by an excellent ear for melodies in whoever was responsible for choosing the songs (none of them composed by the duo) and Brooke’s compelling vocals.
Lisa Shaffer wrote a couple of songs with Bill Whyte, the brightly upbeat ‘Trying To Make Clocks Slow Down’ and the melodic and winsome ‘I Gotta Have Butterflies’, about the need for that special spark when falling for someone. ‘To The Moon And Back’ (written by Shaffer with Wil Nance and Steve Dean) is another charming love song with a pretty tune, this one about anticipating growing old together. It is my favorite of Shaffer’s songs here. Shaffer and Buller together wrote ‘Higher Than My Heart’, which has very nice closely harmonised vocals by Darin and Brooke, and a driving banjo underpinning an idealistic lyric.
Becky Buller (the couple’s fiddle player) also wrote ‘Love Speak To Me’ (with Jimmy Fortune and Jeff Hyde), the only track which has Darin on lead. He has quite a pleasant, if not very distinctive, voice, and it’s a nice song. Buller teamed up with Bethany Dicker-Olds to write the soaring traditional bluegrass of ‘Laurie Stevens’, a dramatic story song involving a young woman tragically drowned in a raging creek on her way to see her sweetheart; Brooke’s vibrant vocal grabs the listener’s attention from start to finish, and the change of mood from the overall positive vibe of the record is also welcome.
The charming mid-tempo ‘Maybe Just A Little’, written by Haley Dykes Johnson, is another of my favourite tracks, with Brooke questioning whether a romantic interest is out of her league. ‘Love Does’, written by Jamie and Susanne Johnson with Jenee Fleenor, is a duet between Brooke and Darin, and is a semi-religious song with a light and airy feel. ‘Little Bit Of Wonderful’ allows Darin to contribute some solo lines, and it is a positive and catchy love song with a charming delivery by the pair.
An unusual choice is a cover of the Nanci Griffith/Tom Russell song ‘Outbound Plane’, with phrasing very similar to that of Suzy Bogguss’s hit version.
This is a very attractive sounding record which feels full of joy. It should appeal not only to bluegrass fans but to those who enjoy top-notch female vocalists on good, generally upbeat material with strong melodies, in an acoustic setting. There are a lot of fine female vocalists in bluegrass, but Brooke Aldridge is rapidly becoming one of my favourites.
Grade: A-
Anyone who has followed country music closely during the past twenty years is familiar with Gretchen Peters, or will at least recognize some of her songs. Most country music fans, however — myself included — are relatively unfamiliar with Gretchen Peters the performer, despite the fact that she has released nine albums over the past fifteen years. Her latest effort, released this past January, is far removed from the realm of country music. It is more accurately described as a vanity project with no ties to a particular genre and not intended for mass appeal; in other words, “singer/songwriter.” Those expecting to hear her take on her compositions that became hits for other artists will be disappointed; no such examples appear here. Nor are there any songs that are likely to become mainstream hits for others in the future.
It’s interesting to hear how very different Peters’ own recordings are from the mainstream fare that did so much for the careers of the likes of Pam Tillis, Patty Loveless, George Strait, Martina McBride, and Trisha Yearwood. As the title suggests, this is not a particularly happy album; it is a serious, introspective and often bleak affair, that unfortunately is at times quite tedious to listen to. Peters wrote or co-wrote all of the album’s songs and co-produced the project with Doug Lancio and Barry Walsh. The mid-tempo title track was released as a single — Gretchen’s first in 16 years — but it failed to chart.
Not surprisingly, the album’s main strength is its well-written songs, which are quite literate and tastefully produced. However, I found myself enjoying them more as works of poetry, reading the lyrics in the liner notes than I did actually listening to them. There is little variety in tempo throughout the album, and like most people who fall into the “singer/songwriter” category, Gretchen is a much better at writing songs than she is at singing them. Her limited vocal ability doesn’t make it any easier to enjoy songs that I’m not particularly drawn to in the first place.
One song that I did enjoy very much is “Five Minutes”, told from the point of view of a downtrodden waitress taking a cigarette break and reflecting on a life that hasn’t quite turned out the way she planned. While I felt little empathy for the characters in most of the album’s songs, the story in “Five Minutes” is told quite skillfully, and the listener is immediately drawn in. It’s a song that I couldn’t help but tune into and pay close attention. Other songs, though far removed from the mindless fluff dominating the mainstream airways, are confusing and are sometimes borderline pretentious. “St. Francis”, co-written with Tom Russell, talks about the saint walking on water, playing the role of a beggar, a shepherd and a guest taking a cup of tea at a stranger’s table — all themes that have been used in songs countless times before, but why St. Francis was chosen to fulfill a role that has almost always been used to refer to God or Jesus, is unclear. Even more confusing is the bizarre “Idlewild”, told from the point of view of a child riding in the backseat of a car that is en route to the airport on the day of John F. Kennedy’s assassination. The song’s gratuitous use of a racial epithet earned the album an “explicit” warning from both iTunes and Amazon, and quite possibly other vendors as well.
It’s quite likely that some crisis in Peters’ personal life inspired these songs, and perhaps knowing the backstory would make them easier to relate to. But one shouldn’t have to have all the inside baseball knowledge in order to enjoy an album. There is very little here to appeal to most country fans, unless they are also die-hard Gretchen Peters fans or enjoy spending 52 minutes listening to tales of unabated misery, in which case Hello, Cruel World may be just the ticket.
Grade: C
For our March spotlight, we’re taking a look at four distinct country songwriters who all, at one point or another, found themselves on the cusp of stardom when they scored major label deals. None would be superstars in their own right, but their songs would be turned into some of the greatest country records of the last thirty years by some of the best female (and sometimes male) voices the genre has to offer.
In celebration of the release of Gretchen Peters Hello Cruel World and Matraca Berg’s The Dreaming Fields we’re taking a look at:
Nanci Griffith’s life hasn’t been without its struggles. Born Nanci Caroline Griffith on July 6, 1953 in Seguin, Texas, she suffered a tragic loss when her boyfriend was killed in a motorcycle accident the night of their senior prom. His loss forever altered her life and became a big inspiration to her songwriting. Griffith has since survived both breast (1996) and Thyroid (1999) cancer.
As an artist, she released her debut album There’s A Light Beyond These Woods in 1978. She would release four albums (none of which charted) before Kathy Mattea brought her fame after her version of Griffith’s “Love At The Five and Dime” peaked at #3 in 1986.
This success led to a deal with MCA Records. Lone Star State Of Mind was released in 1987. The title track would peak at #36 and the album would peak at #23. Tony Brown would also produce the follow-up, Little Love Affairs, released in 1988. It would also chart, although not as successfully. Griffith’s deal with MCA would span just three more albums, two (One Fair Summer Evening and Storms) of which charted quite low.
The 1990s would bring further success. Suzy Bogguss had a #9 peaking hit in 1992 with “Outbound Plane,” a song Griffith co-wrote with Tom Russell. In 1994, Griffith won her first (and only) Grammy award, Best Contemporary Folk Album for Other Voices, Other Rooms; a collection of songs that inspired her.
Griffiths has a new album, her first since 2009’s The Loving Kind. Although not yet released in the United States, Intersection is available in the UK.
My Kind of Country 