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US RAILS All In CD
€ 14,90^*

US RAILS All In LP (blue vinyl)
€ 24,90^*

In the 2000s, the prominent quartet US Rails was one of the most reliable and hard-working acts on the Swabian Blue Rose label. The Americans released no fewer than five major studio productions – in addition to numerous live, cover, and acoustic albums – in the past decade alone, and numerous European tours led to a steady growth of their fan base. Ben Arnold, Tom Gillam, Scott Bricklin, and Matt Muir (as well as Joseph Parsons at the beginning) are each strong singer/songwriters in their own right, with a long list of individual solo projects.

Almost three years after the last studio album, Live For Another Day, the perfectly titled sequel, All In, follows – just in time for another European tour! Songwriting and lead vocals are, as usual, very democratically divided among the creative minds. Ben Arnold and Scott Bricklin each contribute three songs, Tom Gillam contributes two new numbers, drummer Matt Muir contributes one, and Gillam/Arnold contribute a jointly composed piece, creating a very lively, highly dynamic, consistently rocking 10-track album that continues the band’s long tradition with the usual quality.
Starting off this time is regular bassist Scott Bricklin, who also excels as a multi-instrumentalist, including on various guitars and mandolin, and sings with a powerful, bright voice. „My Old Friend“ is the title of his promising Good Time Boogie to start off with. ‚Light My Way‘ follows as a restrained rocker with several powerful acoustic and electric guitars over organ and dominant vocals from Ben Arnold, before Tom Gillam celebrates his entry into this album with ‚Reckless Heart‘ in his familiar, confident manner – including compelling guitars, a striking chorus and a strong lead vocal. ‚Dirty Shame‘ is a swampy, groovy slow rocker by Scott Bricklin that captivates with its feverish, sultry atmosphere, and ‚Heavy‘ is a typically keyboard-driven, creamy, soulful Ben Arnold ballad with a clear message of community spirit, especially for those times when life isn’t going well.
Tom Gillam processes his personal relationship ups and downs in the crisp boogie rock of ‚Beautiful Mess,‘ vocally and on slide guitar very close to Joe Walsh! This is followed by ‚Promise Broken,‘ the only song by Matt Muir. With this fluid straight-forward shuffle, which dissolves beautifully into the chorus with melodic guitars and four-part harmony vocals, the drummer/singer has undoubtedly created another one of his signature songs!
‚Own The Game‘ is a successful co-write by Tom Gillam and Ben Arnold, who also complement each other as lead singers on this mid-tempo rocker. ‚Esta La Noche‘ is strikingly reminiscent of the legendary Sir Douglas Quintet: a Spanish pop rocker with a catchy chorus reminiscent of ‚Nuevo Laredo’/’Mendocino‘. US Rails concludes their new album with another Scott Bricklin song. ‚Songs Of Freedom‘ sends us off with an irresistible, catchy chorus, plenty of retro ’60s charm, and a very simple, perhaps naive, yet so true message for these times: „Songs of love, we need them, we need songs of freedom, everybody gonna sing it now!“

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MURPHY, ELLIOTT Infinity LP
€ 21,90^*

Where do you go after a 50-year career in music and as many albums? I suppose INFINITY is the answer and thus the title of my 52nd (I think) album, which will be released as a limited edition CD on March 7, just in time for my tour of France/Belgium/Spain, and Italy (via Cruise ship). It’s my first studio album of original songs since Wonder (2023) and in this very recent family of songs, I tried to peer into the future while being grounded in the icons of my youth all wrapped in a diverse genre-defying musicality. Hopefully, it’s a personal collection that will appeal to the universal musical collective consciousness. That’s been my modus operandi since my debut album, Aquashow (1973).

INFINITY was produced, arranged, and mixed by Gaspard Murphy, and all songs (except “Count My Blessings,” co-written by Olivier Durand) were written by me in a surprising flurry of creative activity last year. The album was recorded nearby at Murmure studio in Paris with contributions by my musical partner for 29 years, virtuoso guitarist Olivier Durand, violinist Melissa Cox, and percussionist Alan Fatras with double-bassist Gerard McFadden on one track. Keyboards, electric bass, drum programming, and additional instrumentation were all handled by Gaspard Murphy and myself.
I’m convinced that inspiration comes in unpredictable waves, and there’s no telling when new songs, complete with melodies, rhythm, and lyric fragments, will start crashing onto the shore of my unconsciousness. But the trick is to just get on board when they do and don’t let them loose until done. Last year, I was in the grip of just such a mania and made a decision to write a song a day, which proved impossible, but fortunately, that leveled out to about a song a month, which was well within the capacity of my creative output. In some fashion, INFINITY takes on the form of a novel with songs replacing chapters and characters both past, present, and future, dancing hand in hand with a „ghostly rhythm partner…“

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