Sarah Borges: "Together Alone"

 

   I have enjoyed Sarah Borges’ music for years, and gave a very positive review to her “Diamonds in the Dark” CD with the Broken Singles way back when Val and I had our BuffaloRoots.com web site. So I was very happy to see she released a new album. “Together Alone," on Blue Corn Music. Even better is that I’m not disappointed; this is a great album.

     “Together Alone” frequently focuses on life just before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as its aftermath (no, not end), not only how all parts of life have been affected, but how the loneliness, hurt, longing, fun and need for others, while worsened during the pandemic, existed beforehand, continue and will always be there. Borges’ music includes punk and power pop to basic rock and roll, country, blues, Americana and pop.

     She and the musicians (producer, guitarist and occasional co-songwriter Eric “Roscoe” Ambel stands out) start flexing their muscles from the start on “Wasting My Time,” bluesy Americana rock basically describing life during the new wartime, COVID-19, fighting through the loss, loneliness and death. Just living and even making mistakes are worth it and Borges’ choices. The driving rock of “Lucky Day” follows, on which Borges seemingly hopes a relationship will get better while pretty much knowing it won’t, like one’s chances playing the lottery. “Wouldn’t You Know,” chugging blues and rock, comes to the realization that she never really got to know this guy despite them having fun.

     Despite the seriousness of most of the songs Borges maintains her sense and need for fun on the rocking “You Got Me on the Boat,” the story of she and her band’s great experience on the xM Satellite Radio Outlaw Country Cruise #5, the last thing they did before COVID-19 changed the world. “She’s a Trucker” describes the jobs Borges took to get by during the pandemic, way more than just as a musician, again with Ambel leading the band through some driving rock.

     Borges and company leave the title song to the end, a thoughtful, jangly tune recalling life before and during the pandemic. Trying to stay in contact with lovers and friends will always be different and vital; nothing is the same any more, broken hearts, death, separation and loneliness all have more causes and longer lasting pain. Things don’t and won’t get magically better when COVID ends and relationships won’t continue or improve because people realize their faults and mistakes. Borges sounds mournful, slightly hopeful but also uncertain. 

     Not wanting to over categorize things, but this album is really good rock and roll for grownups while still remaining youthful at times. Here’s to hoping Borges and band will stop in Buffalo soon supporting “Together Alone,” because it’s been way too long since I last caught them live. Borges can be contacted at Blue Corn Music, at www.sarahborges.com and on Facebook and Twitter.

Ray Wylie Hubbard - Co-Starring Too

    Musical collaborations can be dicey; just because two artists admire each other’s work or till similar fields, doesn’t mean working together will produce a good song. The prospect of an album full of collaborations runs a gauntlet, and a second such album almost invites them. So, it is very good fortune that Ray Wylie Hubbard’s new recording, “Co-Starring Too,” on Big Machine Records, is a really good album.

     The 11 songs avoid the pitfall of sounding disjointed; you can’t tell at times that these are 11 different collaborations. It sounds like the songs were conceived to be on an album that just happens to have different musicians on most songs. It doesn’t hurt that Hubbard lends his gravelly, swampy vocals and sound to some fine musicians, starting off with “Stone Blind Horses,” sharing lead vocals with Willie Nelson on a stately, slightly battered country flavored song where they acknowledge approaching the end of their earthly existence and hope they’ve touched the lives of people well and maybe been appreciated along the way. There’s some nice accordion and Lloyd Maines plays his usual excellent steel guitar.

     Hubbard and friends kick up some serious dust on several songs (possible credit to his son and excellent guitarist, Lucas Hubbard, part of his father’s touring band. who appears on several songs). “Only a Fool” is a great, rough rocking tune where Hubbard and the Bluebonnets strongly assert that one would disrespect women at their serious peril, with angry guitar supplied by Eve Monsees and/or Kathy Valentine (yes, that Kathy Valentine). “Naturally Wild,” featuring Lzzy Hale of Halestorm on vocals and guitar and John 5 (currently with Rob Zombie, formerly with David Lee Roth, Marilyn Manson and k.d. lang) on guitar, warns the listener not to expect them to calm down or ease up. “Texas Wild Boys” has some fuzzy guitar illustrating hard living but decent people who aren’t like the police, politicians or corporate crooks, with a tough solo by (apparently) Tom Lukovac.

     On the swampier, more soulful side, “Groove” is a slinky, funky song about where the groove started, crediting many places and influences but certainly leaving the listener to think soul, funk, blues, gospel, rock and other styles combined in various ways. Kevin Russell and the Shiny Soul Sisters add great gospel vocals. On the country rocker “Hellbent for Leather,” Hubbard and Steve Earle sing of returning to Oklahoma from Los Angeles, having had enough of the bright lights. “Pretty Reckless” is a humorous story of ending up on a night out in Austin with someone as crazy and, well, reckless as yourself. Wynonna Judd duets with Hubbard while Charlie Sexton and Gurf Morlix (the former Buffalonian who also played bass in Hubbard’s band for a 2022 Austin City Limits performance and previously produced Hubbard) provided smokey, bluesy guitars and bass.

     The only complaint I have is that the credits are really hard to decipher. While the insert prints the song titles, singers, writers and lyrics, the musicians aren’t listed there but are found on the packaging under where the CD goes, in small print that goes line by line without arranging them song by song. I hope I didn’t mess up any credits in this. article.

     Hubbard can be contacted at Wylieworld Music, PO Box 2706, Wimberley, TX 78676, at www.raywylie.com, and Hubbard occasionally graces Twitter and Facebook with his comments. Big Machine Records can be found online at www.bigmachinelabelgroup.com.

Music Is Art Festival: Just as the Name States

My lovely wife Val at her photography booth ay MIA

     The 20th annual Music Is Art Festival, the brainchild of Goo Goo Dolls bassist Robby Takac and company, was another great time and success at Riverworks September 10. I don’t want to write, and I doubt most people want to read, a straight narrative of the 13 or so hours my lovely wife Val and I were there manning the Val Dunne Photography booth, watching bands and so on, or the two-plus hours setting up the day before, so I’ll try to illustrate my highlights and one or two hopefully interesting takes/observations.

Soul Butchers Allan Uthman and Justin Rowland

     Let’s start with the band I’ve been wanting to catch live the most for a year or so, the Soul Butchers, who I did witness this day; simply amazing. The band delivered an intense, thundering set of punk rock and hard rock led by the scorching guitar of Allan Uthman and the insanely powerful vocals of Justin Rowland. Despite having to perform on the Ganson Silo back stage, possibly the hardest to find or most remote stage to get to, the band attracted a crowd and more than made it worth our effort. Using his voice on its own and with a megaphone on occasion, Rowland’s singing makes you feel like the guy in the chair of the classic Maxell cassette tape commercial.

     Tension/Wicked Tension also performed a memorably strong, aggressive set as the band celebrates its 40th year (I still have my four-song 45 featuring “Recruits,” and Tension was one of the first bands I professionally interviewed more than a few years ago) as Buffalo’s best hardcore punk band. Vocalist Tymn Tension, original drummer Tony Ferro, guitarist Troy Messio and bassist Mark Giuliano were energetic and solid, and Tymn’s dark but accurate sense of humor always adds some fun. The Enemies also sounded pretty good and provided an interesting moment. During part of their set, Terry Sullivan (vocalist for the Jumpers, the Restless, Terry and the Headhunters and many more) came over and said hello. As we spoke, the Enemies started playing “I Wanna Know,” a song Sullivan sang with the Restless on its only Mercury Records album. Sullivan laughed, smiled and said, “wow, this is just surreal for the both of us.” “Really for you though,” I replied, and he said back, “no, really, for both of us.” It had struck me that way, but seemed much more for Sullivan. He then went to the front of the stage to wave to guitarist Guy Pelino who also played with the Restless for a time.

The Clockers may have played to their first sit-down audience.

      For me, the strangest and somewhat funniest part of the day involved one of the hockey rinks Val’s booth was located between. In recent years, the rinks have hosted youth karaoke and talent contests for bands and individuals from young kids through high schoolers. This year, the rink nearest the front of the property hosted the youth battle of the bands, which featured some seriously good talent. But this year, at about 4-5 PM, a halfpipe was set up and punk bands played from the stage of one rink, a pretty good idea. But when I looked in during the Clockers’ set, much of the crowd was sitting in the two metal bleachers set up in front of the stage and I could not see any moshing. I suppose as a 61-year-old heart attack and massive open heart surgery survivor, I somewhat understand, but it was still funny.

     I walked in and out of several performers on the main GCR stage inside, mostly while on my way to elsewhere but to at least catch a bit of music. Tom Stahl and the Dangerfields sounded in good form and like they were having fun; not sure Stahl has ever performed a down show. Peelander Z, a flashy punk, “comics” and whatever they throw in the mix band from Japan, received an amazingly enthusiastic response from the crowd for what seemed to be formulaic, upbeat cutesy punk. The Pillagers wiped off

Tom Stahl & the Dangerfields

about a decade or so of dust to play an enjoyable rocking set. I also caught parts of sets by several bands and performers I had no wish to find out their names or subject myself to much of their music; they shall remain anonymous.

     There was much enjoyable work from artists on display; certainly, I am lucky to be married to my favorite photographer, Valerie Dunne, and spent much of the day helping at her Val Dunne Photography booth. We has Jess Pfohl create a painting of Rick James across the hallway from us, and Chris Main also created a cool painting outside near the water. There were many other artists not only displaying their work but creating on site.

Jess Pfohl painting Rick James

     Music Is Art has become an established highlight of Buffalo’s summer, not only as a great outlet and living, breathing site for music and art, but for people to get to see friends they may not have recently been with, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Admission remains free, while parking is difficult and at a premium (and private businesses charging money for the parking, none going to MIA). Takac and his group of committed volunteers deserve a lot of credit for continuing this festival, from its modest beginnings on Franklin Street in Allentown to its time at Delaware Park and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery to the present.

Soul Butchers - Landfall EP

  

    Soul Butchers is a band I’ve been meaning to listen to, live or recorded, pretty much since it came out and had several people who I trust recommend them. But between my writer’s block and COVID-19 hitting, as well as my forgetfulness, I hadn’t until I recently purchased the band’s 2020 6-song EP, Landfall. Well, I deserve a bit of a snack to the head, because it’s really fucking good.

     The sound is a snarling, angry mix of punk, rock, metal and blues led by the soaring, pissed off vocals of Justin Rowland and wailing guitar of Allan Uthman, supported by the rhythm section of bassist Rob Bernette and drummer Joe Peluso. It seems Soul Butchers are a bit of a mystery or secret; the band does not have a web site and its Bandcamp page does not list band members or print any lyrics.

     But it’s no mystery how good the music is from the start; “Crawl” features Uthman going from rough and bluesy to churning punk/metal, while Rowland urgently sings of an apparent power/domination situation he does anything he can to leave. “Have to Die” has a hilarious but ominous singalong chorus after a cool bass and guitar intro that turns into punchy, rough punk, and Rowland sees only one over-the-top way to fix things. After the mid-tempo crunch of “Landfall,” Uthman in particular ups the voltage, with blazing riffs on “Nervous” illustrating Rowland’s apparent frantic attempts to interact with people, and the hammering punk of the almost out of control “Pills,” where Rowland shows the effects of amphetamine abuse, eventually losing control. “Trail of Blood” ends the EP with a heavy metallic guitar riff and Rowland trying to get out from under a person, government or system that bring out violent tendencies in him and other people. Sadly, he sees no way out and no fewer victims.

     The one issue I have with some of the EP is that the vocals occasionally get a bit buried by the music, which may not be too bad to some with Uthman’s supercharged playing, and I should admit that I have been diagnosed with a bit of high frequency hearing loss (40 or so years planted much too close to speakers will do this to a person). Soul Butchers can be found on Bandcamp, Facebook and Instagram.

The Return of the Prodigal Reviewer Son

 

No column logo, so a new Mask-R-Aid music notation selfie will do.

                                                   
     Thank you to those who have recently reached out online or asked me in person if The Hosey Report has returned/started to cover music again. The answer is yes and I am very excited about it.

     This blog had sadly swerved away from music coverage in the last few years, especially following my heart attack and massive open-heart surgery in late 2017. On top of that, suffering from a painful, sometimes almost crippling case of writer’s block for several years didn’t help, and this blog went much too infrequent for my liking. Things picked up in frequency for an unfortunate reason, as the COVD pandemic hit and I addressed nothing but that issue for about two years. In that time, I did start taking photography much more seriously, and am heartened by my progress as a photographer, being able to express myself artistically and politically, as well as the generously warm response from you fine people.

     But I need to be sure that I do not forget that I am a writer at heart, in talent, calling, vocation and art and any other way it can be referenced. Having been a newspaper reporter and editor for more than 18 years and a freelance writer for more than 35 years, it gets in your blood, just like the ink we used to print with not so long ago. Slowly, the urge to write about music returned, and a few bands and musicians (Monkey Wrench in particular) reached out to me about writing about new musical releases, etc., and I started buying some music, at Bandcamp and elsewhere, with much of it making me want to write about it.

     It has also led me to look for some interesting, off the beaten path type photo mini-essays, such as the one I published on the guitarist playing serious metal favorites outside Starbucks on Delaware Avenue in the middle of a workday. I’m finding some really good music, my lovely wife and by far the better photographer in our marriage Val Dunne and I are going to more shows and I feel an enthusiasm for all of this I haven’t felt in years. Most of my new reviews have been either CDs or digital recordings, and those will continue, and I will also review the occasional live show and conduct a couple of interviews.

     It’s good to be back, and performers wishing to contact me can email me at kjhosey@roadrunner.com or comment here; email me for my mailing address if needed.

Brandon Delmont: Soul of a Delmont

 

       Brandon Delmont may be best known as the talented drummer for girlpope, but the composer and multi-instrumentalist has been more than busy since that band ended its career. He has and/or still performs and writes for bands including the Lindbergh Babies, A House Safe for Tigers, Odiorne and the underrated A Son of the Sun.

     This year, he released a new 7-song recording, “Soul of a Delmont,” for NocturnalSol, and it is simply wonderful. Melding jazz, pop, soul, funk and rock. the all-instrumental recording allows Delmont to stretch out and work with some fine musicians, while apparently playing much of the music, from drums to other instruments. “It’s McLemore” starts things with horns, guitar and organ leading a smooth but soulful song with some swing and 1970s feel, and adds a real cool organ solo from Janes “Jamie” Burgess, who supplies most of the trumpet and trombone here. “”Way of War” is a bit more mellow, with the horns swelling to a stronger trumpet lead and more funky rhythm guitar.

     My two favorite songs come in the middle of the recording: “926” is basic, majestic jazz and soul with some bluesy heat and slower tempo, while “Sort of Blue” sounds a bit like a tribute to Miles Davis’ classic “Kind of Blue,” with moody lead trumpet and a smokey backing band. Elsewhere, “Now and Ben” blends 60s pop, rock and soul while swinging organ and trumpet both take leads and Joey Tosto plays a sweet guitar solo; “Ready, Set, Go!” Is another slice of pop and soul, and “Casi En Casa” is regal jazz, soul and pop well mixed.

     Brandon Delmont and NocturnalSun can be found on Bandcamp, Delmont also on Apple Music and both he and several of his bands can be found on Facebook and other social media.

The Greg and Jim (and Cathy and Jim) Band at Duende

 

   In some ways, Thursday, August 11, 2022, could be called a virtually perfect day. The weather was a wonderful sunny 75-78 degrees, there was a bit of a breeze and the Greg and Jim Band performed two sets of original roots rock, Americana and country and western to a large, appreciative crowd at Duende at Silo City.

     The pretty much all-star band of Greg Klyma on guitar and vocals, Jim Whitford on bass and vocals, Cathy Carfagna on keyboard, accordion and vocals and Jim Celeste on drums and vocals performed songs from Klyma’s various solo recordings and from Whitford’s songbook from the Pine Dogs and solo work. Whitford has played on several of Klyma’s recordings and Klyma was a member of the Red Liners, basically the last invocation of the Pine Dogs; Celeste is the original/sole Pine Dogs drummer and Carfagna and Whitford have performed together in several bands and setups.

     The band performed some great Pine Dog tunes including “Everybody Looks So Down,” “Whiskey Voice,” “Moving Pictures” and “Good Luck, Money and Gasoline,” as well as Whitford’s solo songs “Mr. Money Man” and “Crash All Night.” Among the notable Klyma songs were “Still No Silver Linin’,” “Jane,” “Kristofferson” and “Davidson County Beauty Queen.” Throughout the two sets, the musicians played well off each other, with no one trying to steal or overstay their welcomes in the limelight, a testament to both the quality of musicianship onstage plus the experience both in general and playing together live and in the studio. Solos were never too long, no preening was on display and the musicians showed honest appreciation of each other’s talents, occasionally injecting some humor. The audience enjoyed the band, danced along and even sang at times, and Duende’s laid back setting and atmosphere/vibe gave the show and evening a fine groove. (Also, not paying $100 or more for tickets and no charge for parking helped.)

     Finally, if you haven’t caught these musicians either solo or with their respective bands, do yourself a favor and do so, and the same for anyone who hasn’t had the chance to catch a show at Duende. Besides a rather extensive beer/wine list, they have a pretty decent appetizer, sandwich and dinner menu.