“As Long As I Have You” by Foster

Foster is a Nashville-based hip-hop artist and “As Long As I Have You” is just his second release. It’s a melancholy song with a sweet vocal intro, playing on the power of nostalgia and memory. I'm reminded of the oft-quoted Don Draper speech about nostalgia: "It's delicate but potent... far more powerful than memory alone." I think there's a certain power that derives from someone so young clearly depicting this kind of longing for a lost loved one. His first song was a reworking of an Elvis Presley classic; this one is an original. 

foster · as long as i have you

It's out now (6/4) and available via all your usual streaming sites. 

Foster via streaming sites 

Relentless Records 

Foster615 Instagram

Riley Downing - Start It Over

 

This is Riley Downing’s first solo album - he has been playing with New Orleans' The Deslondes, but during the pandemic-induced shutdown found that he wanted to do some solo stuff. It started out with a two-sided single, on which he had some help from his band mate John James Tourville. From there it grew to a full album with Tourville as well as Jack Lawrence from The Raconteurs and a number of ready Nashville session players. 

They put together a relaxed, smooth country sound behind Downing’s distinctive deep baritone. I get a bit of a Barefoot Jerry feeling from his singing, but the music isn’t as twangy as most of Barefoot Jerry’s - in that sense it is more reminiscent of JJ Cale, perhaps. That’s an intriguing combination and hopefully it makes you curious enough to check some of his music out. 

Here's "I'm Not Ready" - I like this song more each time I hear it. Something about the piano bit at the beginning, and the way his warm vocals just don't get too het up about anything, just gives a nice easy feeling. Though there is a bit of variety, this is a good taste of what the album's about:

And here is the title track, and a delightful, surrealistic video in a milieu that will be familiar to any music collector in Nashville (or who has visited Nashville):

The album is out now, on New West Records. And in a bit of a plug for the great folks at Grimey's, Riley signed some copies that they are selling on their website for local pickup.

Riley Downing - Start It Over (stream or buy)

Buy signed copy from Grimey’s

New West Records website

“Shenandoah Shakedown” by John R. Miller

John R. Miller is a Nashville-based singer songwriter playing an invigorating combination of folk, country and rock music. His new track "Shenandoah Shakedown" is good - especially notable is the way his voice lays on top of an ever-changing instrumental bed - starts out with a fingerpicked acoustic, but builds with violin, mandolin and even an electric guitar run that is sort of scorching yet restrained at the same time. Everything's in service of the melody of the song, which is carried by his voice, which of course is telling the story. This is story music. Here's the video:

 

 

I really like the feel of this song. Miller has released two other singles, which look to be on this album as well: "Faustina" and "Looking Over My Shoulder". "Faustina" has some good steel guitar, and "Looking" has an intro with a sort of countrypolitan feel. The variety, and more important, the quality of these tracks augur well for the album. The track is available now, and the album Depreciated will be released July 16 on Rounder Records. 

John R. Miller - Depreciated (listen, stream, pre-order) 

John R. Miller website 

Rounder Records website

“Nervous” by Madi Diaz

“Nervous” is the newest song from Nashville’s Madi Diaz, and it’s a nice one. She’s got a clear, light voice and the song makes good use of the quiet/loud/quiet dynamic with both her voice and the electric guitar backing. The song seems to be describing the dangers of too much introspection, the kind that leads to solipsism, and probably we could use a warning like that these days:

I know why I lie to myself

I’m not really looking to get healthy

I have so many perspectives 

I’m losing perspective I make me nervous.

Here’s the video:

 

 This song, and several other 2021 singles, are on -ANTI and are available to download or stream via her website.

Madi Diaz website

“Hot & Heavy” by Lucy Dacus

Here’s a great new track from Lucy Dacus, with a wonderful, emotionally affecting video. Her voice carries the first part of the song, and as strong as it is, her voice could carry the whole song. But there’s good country rock band playing behind her, and the song’s mixer, Shawn Everett, is smart enough to leave her voice up at the top of the mix, so you follow her all the way through. It’s really well done.

 

 The album is Home Video, and it's due out in June on Matador. She recorded it in Nashville at Trace Horse Studio. She shared a few thoughts about the song: “I thought I was writing ‘Hot & Heavy’ about an old friend, but I realized along the way that it was just about me outgrowing past versions of myself. So much of life is submitting to change and saying goodbye even if you don't want to.” Listen, read more or preorder at the site below: 

Lucy Dacus - Home Video

"Nightflyer" and "Persephone" by Allison Russell

 

Allison Russell, vocalist with Our Native Daughters and Birds of Chicago, has announced a solo album. Aptly named Outside Child for this talented musician, poet, and writer of Scottish, Grenadian and Canadian descent, it will be released May 21 via Fantasy. The album promises to reflect on her difficult childhood and eventual survival as she forged a life for herself. Two singles, "Nightflyer" and "Persephone" have been released so far and we think that they hint at music that is both powerful and elegant. The videos and streams are below so you can make your own evaluation.

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Bandcamp for Outside Child

Various links to order Outside Child

Fantasy Recordings

Aaron Lee Tasjan - Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan!

 Aaron Lee Tasjan has really matured as an artist, and his latest Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan! is a terrific pop rock album, exploring strands of Americana, power pop, folk rock and some fairly baroque Britpop. He's also become a local Nashville hero, with his album cover portrait on the side of Grimey's, and he played a show a couple weeks ago to celebrate the release of the vinyl edition of this record.

I'm reminded of several of the Wilburys - I think the quality of the first four songs puts him in league with Petty in terms of the big chorus/guitar combos, and there are strains of ELO all over this record. Tasjan is a really good vocalist - his voice supports every one of these turns, and the record combines these elements well. 

Here’s “Don’t Overthink It”:

 

 And here's "Up All Night" - I love the way he is not the least bit restrained from repeating a chorus over and over - good thing for an artist to know when he's struck gold:

 

 

 The songs are all high quality, with plenty of variety to reward repeated listens. The album ends on a strong emotional note with soaring vocal harmonies and acoustic-based melodies of "Not That Bad" and "Got What I Wanted", which seem to be a denouement, based on the album's themes of self-discovery and self-care. Very well done. I realize this has been out a while, but the vinyl just came out a couple weeks ago, and I really like it, so here you go.

Aaron Lee Tasjan website

Aaron Lee at New West Records

April March, Olivia Jean - Palladium EP

From Third Man Records comes an EP as delightful as a spring day - six "versions" of a short number titled "Let's Go" or "Allons-y" - you see, it's put forth in both English and French, with slightly different versions for each track. The common elements are April March and Olivia Jean's bright, clear, totally confident vocals and great backbeats and guitars. Some tracks feature chicken-scratch soul guitar, some a heavier rock sound, and of course it would not be complete without a couple of surf guitar numbers. Short (18:00 all in), sweet and completely satisfying, you can get just the music at all your usual digital sources, or a "French flag" tricolored vinyl. Here we are, a week into spring, and you may have here your record of the summer:

 

 

Below is a link to the record's landing page at Third Man. I encourage you to check it out, and read the ladies' bios, which feature interactions with a host of figures including Bo Diddley, Brian Wilson, Ronnie Spector and of course Jack White, at whose studio these tracks were produced. 

  Palladium at Third Man Records (including April March and Olivia Jean bios)

"When I Was Younger" by Tyler Boone

For those readers who asked whether our several day absence was because we had hopped a freight train with a hot partner and a bottle of bourbon, well, we appreciate the vote of confidence.  In fact, we were busy working to pay the bills.  However, speaking of bourbon, if we had been engaged in the activity mentioned in the opening sentence (other than in a daydream, aspirational sense, which describes most of our romantic encounters), we would have been drinking Boone's Bourbon.  And we are thinking about Boone's Bourbon because Tyler Boone, the founder of Boone's Bourbon, is releasing a terrific slice of bluesy rock and roll today.  In searching for song to feature in welcoming ourselves back to blogging, "When I Was Younger" shouldered its way to the head of the pack.  Slashing guitar, bluesy vocals, heavy bass and, in fact, a heavy vibe overall.  This is rock and roll, and we are back.  We will now cut the cake, ignore the cake, and commence sampling some bourbon.

"When I Was Younger" is out now as a digital download, so visit your favorite platform and enjoy what we are enjoying (well, minus this bourbon -- it is ours).



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Soccer Mommy - Clean

With Soccer Mommy we get a trifecta of goodness.  The crunch and jangle of the guitars perk up our ears, as always, the vocals and the accompanying oohs and aahs make us smile, and the introspective and perceptive lyrics prompt us to nod and mark Sophie Allison as an artist to keep watching.  Clean is her second release since the beginning of 2017, but as the preceding Collection consisted of re-recorded songs from the past few years, it really is her real debut album.

Soccer Mommy rocks out on a few notable tracks, and several more boast a well-constructed loud/soft dynamic.  But this album still has a dominant foot planted in the singer-songwriter universe.  While we personally look forward to further movement into the noisier space in future work, we are by no means complaining.  Allison is an artist that conveys vulnerability and angst with an impressively deft touch, and her chosen arrangements, while often restrained in volume and pace, are richly detailed to make the killer point as sharp as possible.

The players on Clean are Sophie Allison (guitar/vocals/bass), Julian Powell (lead guitar), Nick Brown (drums), and Gabe Wax (keys/bass/guitar/drum programming/percussion).  The album is out now via Fat Possum Records.







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Ponce - Afterglow EP

Afterglow EP is the work of Ponce, a Nashville duo consisting of twin brothers Carson and Michael Ponce.  Dive in and you get synthy dance pop, '80s-style pop rock, and sweet country.  And that is just on the first three songs!  Overall, the EP leans a bit more towards '80s rock than country, but the unifying characteristics are sincere vocals, energetic performances, clean production and, loads of pop in the DNA.  If you are taking a drive this weekend, this could be your perfect soundtrack.  You could be the guy everyone else notices singing in the car while tapping time on the steering wheel.  Yes, that guy ...

Afterglow EP is out today on your favorite digital platform.  Stream "Under The Gun" below, and if you dig it, stream the entire album below that link.





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"Elevator" by PONCÉ

Perhaps shockingly, When You Motor Away is starting out the week with some elevator music.  Yes, the first post of the week is "Elevator" by Nashville-based duo PONCÉ.  The band is comprised of identical twins Michael and Carson Ponce, and we think they have a sound that will carry them far.  Enjoy the "Elevator" ride, and we'll bring you more PONCÉ when their Afterglow EP is released in early May.



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"Souvenir Shop Rock" by Savoy Motel

Funky, ragged-edged rock with a deep groove and a chugging '70s riff.  My God, we love this stuff!  "Souvenir Shop Rock" is the latest gem from up-and-coming Nashville four-piece Savoy Motel.  Mining glam, blues, funk, boogie, and garage, and wrapping it up with a free-wheeling vibe, this band's couple of available songs may keep me up for another hour or so tonight.

Savoy Motel has one single, "Hot One" / "Souvenir Shop Rock".  Apparently, they are paired on a promotional 7" that isn't commercially available.  "Souvenir Shop Rock" was just aired, while "Hot One" was getting play a bit earlier.  Supposedly both will be on the band's first LP, which will be available later than we wish it were, even if it comes out next week.  Which, of course, it won't.





Savoy Motel are Jeffrey Novak (bass/vocals), Jessica McFarland (drums/vocals), Mimi Galbierz (guitar/vocals), and Dillon Watson (guitar).

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Whats Your Rupture

Kent Eugene Goolsby - Minor Wear EP

Less than four months after celebrating Kent Eugene Goolsby's No Substitute For Handsome (review here), the country boy has delivered the Minor Wear EP.  Comprised of four tracks of KEG's introspective country/folk gems, it is available for the even popular 'name your price' at the Bandcamp link below.  Stream the entire EP at the Bandcamp link.  The skeptical can test drive two tracks below.

The players on Minor Wear are Goolsby (vocals/guitar), Mark Sloan (guitar/pedal steel), Spencer Duncan (bass), Tyler Coppage (drums), and Anna Leigh Goolsby (vocals).  The record was recorded, mixed and mastered by Joey Kneiser.





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"Otherworldly Pleasures" and "She Takes Me There" by Promised Land Sound

On September 28 Nashville's Promised Land Sound will release For Use And Delight, their second album, via Paradise of Bachelors.  The musical growth of the band's young members is evident on the two album tracks shared below -- "Otherworldly Pleasures" and "She Takes Me There" -- which present a wide range of rootsy psychedelia.





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Kent Goolsby & The Gold Standard - No Substitute For Handsome

Kent Goolsby and I both understand that there is no substitute for handsome.  And in a parallel fashion, I'm sure we've both enjoyed the fruits of our random good genetic fortune.  Our paths diverge, however, because Kent and friends, under the banner Kent Goolsby & The Gold Standard, also can write and perform a set of songs that will make you smile, make you sigh, make you and your loved one want to hug each other, and clear up your seasonal allergies.  On the other hand, if I fronted The Gold Standard the product would be listenable only if the product consisted of instrumentals with no instrument allocated to my hands,  Oh, and your allergies would be untouched.  Accordingly, the remainder of this post will focus on Handsome Kent's No Substitute For Handsome.

The hallmarks here are excellent songwriting -- good stories with clever but efficient phrasing, and a great sense of fun.  Goolsby's vocals, as others have noted, have a hint of Roger Miller, but more importantly they have an everyman accessibility that makes it easy to warm up to whatever he is singing about.

The album begins with teasing guitar riff while Kent explains his mother's advice for grooming and its likely affect on his future happiness.  Pay attention guys, this is important advice.



The old time country "Rags to Rags" contains two lessons -- the possibility that life may not be an upward economic spiral, and that there may be a silver lining in not trying.  By the third song, the wonderful,"This Daddy (Has Run Out of Strut)", our storytellers are admitting that work and pleasing the little missus have left them with an energy deficit.



"Natural Disaster" addresses an different economic fact, that being how fast one's daddy can fill up the family 'swear jar'.  Yes, some lessons are learned close to home.



The gang slows it down a bit for the bluesy "Outskirts of Love", which has a subversively strutting arrangement.  "Beast of Bourbon" tells of a working man's craving for the titular nectar as the weekend approaches.

Other highlights are the tributes to the narrator's true love -- "Leading Lady" and "Hitched".





This album is made for the hot days of the summer.  Put it on the outdoor speakers for the afternoon picnic, or for drinking under the stars later.  Everyone will feel better as they compete to prove whose daddy was the biggest natural disaster, and who was luckiest, or unluckiest, in getting hitched.

The players are Kent Goolsby (guitar/vocals), Steve Daly (guitar/mandolin), Dan Eubanks (upright bass), Roy Agee (trombone), Chris Housman (fiddle), and Anna Goolsby (vocals).  No Substitute for Handsome is out now -- see the Bandcamp link below.

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REVIEW: Great Peacock - Making Ghosts

Great Peacock is growing up quite nicely, thank you very much.  Wielding a razor sharp heart-on-our sleeve brand of songwriting to create pop anthems with southern rock and folk accents,  Making Ghosts builds impressively on the band's debut EP to present listeners with a gem that ticks all of the right boxes.  The harmonies are gorgeous and the melodies instantly memorable.  The guitars adeptly shift between crunchy indie rock, country-fried folk and summery tropical pop, with every note perfectly placed.  But most of all, the duo's songwriting skills here are razor sharp.  These songs manage to feel both fresh and like comfortable old friends.  Yes, Blount Floyd and Andrew Nelson are southern born and bred, living in Nashville, but this northern lad finds it easy to connect with these heartfelt tunes.  And I think connection is a major theme with, and behind, Making Ghosts.  Blount and Andrew are telling us stories of their lives and community, and doing it in a manner to which we can relate, and with a delivery that makes us want to hear it again.  The songs are vivid and widescreen, and not tethered to any genre.  Whether you are in the front row, the back row, or at home with headphones on, you are part of Great Peacock's world when you listen to this album.  Honestly, just listening to them makes me feel good about being alive.

Choosing songs to illustrate the album proved to be exceptionally difficult.  I listened to the album again while writing this post, and realized that I was inserting over half the songs, and regretting the omission of the songs I hadn't chosen.  Ultimately, I exercised some restraint, but I'm not happy about it.  So I encourage you to go to the Bandcamp page linked below and play the entire album.










Great Peacock is, in addition to Blount and Andrew, Nick Recio, Ben Cunningham, and Clay Houle.  Making Ghosts is out now via This Is American Music.  It is available in CD and deluxe vinyl formats and as a digital download (see the Bandcamp link for ordering information).

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REVIEW: Billy Joe Shaver - Long In The Tooth

Billy Joe Shaver is a real treasure, and it's a good thing he keeps promises. Long In The Tooth is his first album in 7 years, and his best, I think, since 2001's The Earth Rolls On. The promise? Well, Shaver released a live album not long ago and appreciated the positive reception so much that he promised his next album would consist of all original songs. Shaver's songwriting is as good as country music gets, so this is a welcome development.

Shaver has often been known by the company he keeps, and this record is no exception: he's got Tony Joe White playing guitar, Leon Russell on piano, and sings a duet with old friend Willie Nelson. True to form, there's a little wink, one of those little turns of phrase that's so wryly true, it makes you wonder why nobody's written it before: "It's hard to be an outlaw/Who ain't wanted anymore":



The title cut is a silly but engaging song, Shaver's self-deprecating country-fried rap about being older and wiser, taking the good with the bad. And there is plenty of humor on the record, but as is usual with Shaver, there's more wisdom and pathos than you will find on country radio in a year's worth of listening. And we'd all be better off listening to Billy Joe Shaver more. He's at home in Nashville as much as Texas, but that's only because he knows the score and is willing to march to his own drummer. Check out "Music City USA":



Shaver calls this his best record ever. I'd say that's downplaying some of his earlier work, but he's right to be excited about how this one turned out. Every song crackles with his outlaw spirit and his ragged but upbeat vocals, the songwriting is some of his best, and the production and sequencing are excellent. Long In The Tooth is out now (Aug. 5) on Lightning Rod Records.

Billy Joe Shaver website
Billy Joe Shaver on Lightning Rod Records

REVIEW: PUJOL - Kludge

PUJOL is a band, and it's Daniel Pujol, a Nashville-based singer/songwriter. On their latest album, KLUDGE, the band is playing a post-90's take on a very 70's sound. It's sort of an amalgam of Bowie, Bolan, Kiss, ELO and Queen (he even says Freddie's name a bunch in "No Words") filtered through our knowledge that, since then, there have been whole waves of punk, post-punk and post-post-punk. So, retro-glam-scuzz? Listen and develop your own moniker for it. Or don't develop one - but definitely listen. Opening track "Judas Booth" is a good example of PUJOL's sound - raw, honest singing over heavily tracked guitar tones that in places remind me of Thin Lizzy's sort of dark-night heroic sound.

Bands these days operate on so many levels it's hard to keep up, hard to tell when they mean what they say or just the opposite. That's not a problem with this band - I find it best to assume it's all sincerity, as in "Post Grad" when Daniel intones: "Tonight we're going to use our rock n roll powers for GOOD, instead of complacent, negligent, self-hating evil!"



As he's done previously on United States of Being (WYMA review here), Pujol carries on an extended monologue addressing all the crazy stuff we're learning to take for granted: alienation bordering on universal solipsism, drones, the absurdity of carrying the world's accumulated knowledge on a device in your pocket, 3-D printing - and wonders if we even have a choice anymore to use them for good or evil? After all, as stated in "Manufactured Crisis Control", the bracing second track, the new him and the old him are in a fist fight - a state that can certainly be writ large to speak about humanity and the issues we're struggling with (when we can be forced to contemplate them).

Here is a video of the band playing "Manufactured Crisis Control" in Nashville:



Here's a link to an interview with Daniel, also featuring a download of the album's single, "Pitch Black" - a real singalong track. As a description of his take on the artistic process and how it informs his music, the interview is really a terrific read.

To his credit, all this social commentary and honest philosophizing is done without ever forgetting to rock out. More to his credit, if all you want to do is rock out, that's easy to do with this album... so he's got you either way. KLUDGE was made by Daniel Pujol with help from producer/drummer Doni Shroader, assistant engineer Travis Atkinson, bassist Clayton Parker and lead guitarist Brett Rosenberg. The record is out now (released May 20) on Saddle Creek.

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Wild Cub cover Chvrches - "The Mother We Share"

Nashville electro-rock band Wild Cub has made this song, a cover of Chvrches' "The Mother We Share", available for free download - just in time for Mother's Day:



Apparently, if you will "Shazam" their song "Thunder Clatter" (which we shared previously on WYMA), you will receive this new song as a free download. Wild Cub's music is pretty invigorating stuff, and they certainly have raised their visibility lately. They will be on Conan next week (5/13) and you can view upcoming tour dates at their Facebook page.

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