BLUE WATER HIGHWAY are a long-standing Texas band from the Austin scene, or more precisely: from San Marcos in the not far away Hill Country. For over 10 years they have been delighting their local fans with ambitious, demanding releases (after several EPs from 2015 onwards, at least 6 full albums at regular intervals!) and courageous, frenetically celebrated live performances. During the Corona phase, the band, which started as a quintet and soon expanded into a sextet, lost two members, but this does not at all detract from the complexity of their sound and instrumental sophistication. Unlike on ‚Paper Airplanes‘, their first post-Corona work from 2021 with a number of additional studio musicians, recordings in Nashville and producers from „outside“, they have now completely relied on themselves. Year Of The Dragon was arranged, recorded, recorded and produced exclusively by the four pro-tagonists: The undisputed bandleader Zack Kibodeaux delivered all 10 songs and also mainly sang.
He also plays acoustic and electric guitars, harmonica and key-boards/synth. In addition to his usual guitar arsenal, lead guitarist Greg Essing-ton can also be heard with keyboards/synth and programmed sound layers, but also with banjo, dulcimer and piano. Together with Catherine Clarke, he impresses with heavenly harmony vocals in a class of its own. He „gets“ to lead a Kibodeaux song just like Clarke does when she refines the wonderfully voluptuous 5:42 ballad ‚Bar-fly‘ towards the end. The fourth in the group, the actual bassist Kyle James Smith, also takes on the job of drummer for these recordings and turns out to be a true multi-instrumentalist with additional contributions on electric guitar, keyboards, piano, synth and programming! Americana purists should be reassured that the numer-ous keyboard and programming parts take place in the background and only seem song-oriented. On the other hand, the overall very personal, almost private new BWH album has become an extremely varied, multi-layered musical tour de force, in which well-known Texas roots/country stereotypes find practically no place at all, but fresh, modern structures and contemporary arrangements reign supreme. The final mix by Craig Alvin (Will Hoge, Kathleen Edwards, Kacey Musgraves, William Clark Green) certainly plays a part in this. So right from the start we experience an irresistible mix of Lumineers, Avett Brothers, Jamestown with the airy, melodic title song through the Springsteenesque critical ‚A Gun Is A Killing Tool‘ and the folkabilly of ‚High Cotton‘ to the fiddly guitar ‚Rockabye Motel‘ Revival and The Lone Bellow, garnished with some Fleetwood Mac, Crowded House and Wilco.
Mailorder English
Exclusively available in Europe at the Blue Rose webshop: New album Year Of The Dragon by BLUE WATER HIGHWAY!
New live album Journeyman by STEVE WYNN on Blue Rose – only available at his shows and at the Blue Rose webshop!
We are releasing STEVE WYNN’s albums on Blue Rose Records since 1997, both as a solo artist and with his band Miracle 3. Every now and then there are also CDs put out that are not sold through regular retailers, but only available at Steve’s concerts and through the Blue Rose webshop. It’s the same again with the live album Journeyman. Recorded during the most recent solo tour in Germany on May 24, 2023 at the Music Star in Norderstedt, the CD contains 15 songs that go back in time to the beginnings of The Dream Syndicate to the current Baseball Project album, and of course are also songs from his numerous solo albums not missing.
The edition is limited to 1,000 copies.
Why the album title Journeyman? Steve explains: “I am the journeyman. And I do go from town to town. Just like it says in the song. For all of the shows I have played over the years, every night remains a new adventure and a uniquely empty slate upon which to etch brand new memories. Always keep my bags packed? Sure, but while the physical one is filled with clothes and strings and various items for road survival, the metaphorical one holds songs and a mental took kit to solve whatever puzzle lays in front of me on any given night. This live recording was from one of those nights that needed no tools and had no puzzles to be solved. Smooth as silk and captured expertly by Wolfgang and the rest of the gang at the Music Star. I’m glad to have you along for the evening. The car leaves at midnight.”
Exclusively available in Europe at the Blue Rose webshop: New album „Rings On A Tree“ by OWEN TEMPLE!
OWEN TEMPLE should be no stranger to long-time friends and customers of Blue Rose Records, after all with „Mountain Home“ (2011) and „Stories They Tell“ (2013) we have had two remarkable albums released from the musician from Austin, Texas. He took a lot of time for his latest work „Rings On A Tree“. The new album, available through us on CD and 3-sided vinyl, is a concept album – an exploration of family history and the way every interaction we have resonates across generations.
“It is clear that our lives are a distillation and expansion of the lives that lie before us,” Temple said. “Every life, every interaction of matter and energy, reverberates throughout the universe in an ever-expanding field. Waves of behavior that cause other waves of behavior, not just in one life, but in all of our lives. These songs weren’t written because of Covid, but the lockdown gave me the opportunity to spend time with my family and think about where we came from and where we might be going,“ explains Temple. He adds: „I have songs with me for this collection Hal Ketchum, Walt Wilkins, Kelley Mickwee, George Ensle, Nathan Hamilton, Brandon Bolin and Jamie Lin Wilson. Gordy Quist produced the sessions. Steve Christensen turned the controls, Rick Richards played drums, Josh Flowers played bass, Geoff Queen played guitar, Noah Jeffries played violin, and Trevor Nealon played keyboards and organ. Tina Wilkins, Walt, Gordy and Kelley sang harmony vocals. I saw all these people working and playing up close, and they put their heart and soul into every note and every line.“
You can find the complete story about the album under the album in the webshop.
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