When, five years ago, Julian Dawson decided to bring out a personally chosen ‚Best Of‘ compilation with Blue Rose Records, Life And Soul was the perfect title for a look back at a uniquely varied musical odyssey.

As Geoff Wall noted in his sleeve notes, ‚I can’t think of another artist with a career path that includes collaborations with avant-garde pioneers Can, jazz genius Toots Thielemans, country royalty Charlie Louvin and Vince Gill, soul legends Dan Penn and Lucinda Williams and guitar heroes Duane Eddy, Richard Thompson and Steuart Smith!‘

The lovingly packaged three-CD first box-set was well-received by fans and critics alike, but with more than forty years and twenty albums to choose from, Volume I only told half the story…

Now comes Life And Soul Volume II, ‚Bargains Galore‘ (translates into German as something like ‚Reichlich Schnäppchen‘).

With another eye-catching cover, a lavish forty-page booklet and three CDs packed with more than sixty songs, Volume II brings us up to date. Julian again picked his personal favourites from seven albums recorded between 1997 and 2017. The new package features more rare photographs from Julian’s personal archive as well as recording details, reminiscences and background stories to each and every song.

Where Volume I loosely covered his major label years while fronting a band, the follow-up begins with Move Over Darling, his first acoustic venture, recorded in New York with producer Stewart Lerman and his old friend Steuart Smith (who has spent the last decade onstage with the Eagles).
Julian has always displayed great taste in his choice of musicians and collaborators. The quietly compelling songs on Move Over Darling were graced by additional appearances from guests Richard Thompson, The Roches and soul legend Dan Penn (a constant presence throughout this collection). The Doris Day song of the title sat comfortably alongside audience favourites such as ‚If I Needed Rain‘, ‚All The King’s Horses‘ and ‚Pilgrims‘, all captured here in pristine form.

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Kommentare deaktiviert für Vol. 1 only told half of the story – now comes Life And Soul Vol. 2 (Bargains Galore) telling the second part of JULIAN DAWSON’s adventures in music!

For years, Walter Salas-Humara has split his time between making music and visual art, so it’s not surprising that Walterio, his new release on Blue Rose Records, contains rich imagery — both lyrically and on its cover. But one of the strongest images it evokes actually comes from the music itself, which might be described as the sonic equivalent of a tree — a rock ’n’ roll family tree. Salas-Humara was made in Cuba but born in America (the album’s title is his Hispanic nickname). He spent a good chunk of his Florida childhood studying drums, which, of course, led to teenage rock ’n’ roll bands.

Tracks such as “Here We Go,” “She’s a Caveman” and “Out of the Band” can trace lineage back to The Silos, the still-kicking band Salas-Humara co-founded in New York’s post-punk ’80s scene. Playing alt-country before anyone called it that, they were named „Best New Artist“ in the 1987 Rolling Stone Critics Poll— which temporarily deep-sixed Salas-Humara’s art-career plans.

Walter Salas-Humara joined Blue Rose in 2001 with the Silos album Laser Beam Next Door and has released another eight albums on the label since then. With five records by The Silos and four under his own name Walterio marks the 10th release in seventeen years!

Kommentare deaktiviert für Ex-Silos mastermind WALTER SALAS-HUMARA rocks again on Walterio !

Since the demise of Cross Canadian Ragweed in 2010, their mastermind Cody Canada has made some efforts to move on from the band’s glorious past and discover new ground. With The Departed he released three varied albums between 2011 and 2015 – but now he has decided to get back to exactly the type of music that brought him the most fun and success. Between 2002 and 2006 Cross Canadian Ragweed were the red dirt band to take note of. That band’s name will certainly stay in Oklahoma’s music history books. Now, the new album by Cody Canada & The Departed is entitled 3 which is somewhat surprising given that it’s their 4th release. The title indicates that the former quintet and quartet is now down to a trio. This power trio in every sense of the word delivers 14 tracks with great variety and a great, tailor-made sound.

Cross Canadian Ragweed embodied the sound and attitude of the Oklahoma/Texas red dirt scene like no other band. Their (red) dirty mix of guitar-driven country, Southern rock, singer-songwriter sounds, heartland rock & boogie was irresistible and highly successful. Between 1998 and 2009 they released ten albums some of which reached the Billboard top ten! Their concerts from San Francisco to NYC, New Orleans to Chicago were often sold out and the band achieved almost legendary status in their home region of Stillwater, Oklahoma and later anywhere between Austin and New Braunfels, Texas. However, it all became a little too much for bandleader Cody Canada and he pulled the plug on the band in 2010. Only to return from the ashes with a new band shortly thereafter.

The newly-born Departed were signed by Blue Rose without hesitation. Their first sign of life was This Is Indian Land in 2011, a colossal homage to their Oklahoma forebears Leon Russell, J.J. Cale, Bob Childers, Tom Skinner and others. Their second release Adventus (Blue Rose, 2012) was a pretty radical step away from red dirt, Texas rock and Americana – unbending electric rock’n’roll, a kind of Southern hard rock, brilliantly played but perhaps – at least for Ragweed fans – a little short on soul. In spite of an innovative spirit, an experimental mindset and a love for challenges, Canada felt like a stranger in his own band. The next album HippieLovePunk (Blue Rose, 2015) had a warmer, rootsier sound with a hint of a psychedelic “garage” vibe. 2013 saw the release of a Cody Canada live double album Some Old, Some New, Maybe A Cover Or Two, yet another live double album came out in 2015: Chip & Ray – Together Again For The First Time with Mike McClure his former mentor and something of a godfather of the red dirt scene. In 2016 Canada’s longtime friend and bass player took on frontman duties on the country album In Retrospect, released by Jeremy Plato & The Departed.

And now, after a period of self-rediscovery, Cody Canada returns to the spirit of Cross Canadian Ragweed with new material and a trio formation that sees him play all kinds of guitars, as well as piano, organ and harmonica. We also hear his raspy inimitable voice again. Jeremy Plato is still irreplaceable on bass. On drums we find a well-known name from the Okie scene: Eric Hansen who has played with everyone from Jimmy LaFave, Bob Childers, Greg Jacobs to Stoney LaRue as well as in the Mike McClure band in the last twenty years. Speaking of McClure: For the first time in The Departed‘s history Cody Canada is collaborating with his right-hand man for almost all of CCR’s output. McClure’s involvement is deep: He acts as producer, co-writer on a number of songs and contributor of various guitars and backing vocals. Joe Hardy, another familiar collaborator, mixed the album. It’s exactly this feeling of loyalty and friendship that permeates the entire 3 project.

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Kommentare deaktiviert für CODY CANADA & THE DEPARTED are back with their 4th album and they call it 3 !?!

Contribution - The Best of 1985-1999
CD
€ 9,50^*

Live At Loreley
CD
€ 9,50^*

THE BRANDOS owe their name to their love of Marlon Brando. Their fans know them as one of the most vital American live rock bands of the 20th century’s final decades. THE BRANDOS, known for timeless classics like “The Solution” and “Gettysburg” and their straight and true rock sound, were founded in 1986 with the line-up of David Kincaid (voc, g, mand, banjo), Ed Rupprecht (g), Larry Mason (dr) and Ernie Mendillo (b, voc) in New York City.

The compilation Contribution – The Best Of 1985-1999, originally released in 1999, covers an almost fifteen year career with fourteen songs from the to that date released five studio albums plus two previously unissued tracks, „Hallowed Ground“ and „My Way To You“.

In the summer of 1999 the Brandos did another European tour with the line-up Dave Kincaid (voc, g, mandolin), Ernie Mendillo (b, voc), Frank Giordano (g, voc) and Tom Engels (dr, voc). One of the anchor dates the four piece played a outdoor festival for German TV show „Rockpalast“ at Loreley on July 9th. The set included nine songs, two more live tracks have been added to the disc: „I Got It“, a Little Richard cover, was recorded at the Stadtfest in Bremen, Germany in 1987, another one in 1998 at the Kongresshalle in Gießen, also in Germany.
Live at Loreley was only available at Dave Kincaid’s label Haunted Field Music and sold out pretty fast. For the first time it’s not only issued on a European label but also as digital edition.

Kommentare deaktiviert für Today is the release of the last two BRANDOS re-issue albums!