AL SCORCH & THE COUNTRY SOUL ENSEMBLE –
TIRED GHOSTLY TOWN

2012 – Self Released
(Released 19-11-12)
4****
It’s difficult to know where to start describing this album that kicks off by convincing the listener it is going to be a recording of speedy Appalachian hoe down music and ends up as a tremendous modern day folksy alt.
country disc. From that description alone it should be obvious you are not going to hear mainstream country music, but country music it most certainly is and pleasingly, very close to the left wing!
The lineup on this recording is Al Scorch on vocals, banjo, electric and acoustic guitars, Cris Castellan plays drums, suitcase, keyboards,
Ausberto Ascevedo, Paul Defiglia and Drew Salapatek handle bass on various songs, Daniel Wescott, harmony vocals, guitar and bass, Laura Carter, clarinet, Rob Cruz on Accordion, Sam Johnson, trumpet, Rev. Carl Harris, organ, Will Staler, harmony vocals, mandolin, guitar, violin and viola. It was necessary to mention everyone who plays simply because they all leave their mark on this recording that whilst ‘country,’ blends quite a few disparate instruments giving the overall sound a
feel that is difficult to tie in to any particular sub genre.
There is plenty of ‘punk’ attitude that keeps the ramshackle feel, that so befits this music, propelling these excellent songs along on an album that clocks in at less than half an hour. But what a half hour it is! The arrangements are tremendous, the playing and the vocals, whilst excellent, have
an appealing rawness, again so befitting this edgy music. Al Scorch’s songs are incredibly literate and tell some quite compelling tales, some of which could almost make this a protest album with their hard hitting lyrics, but can just as easily be listened to for the pure musicality and the often hillbilly
atmosphere. Many are thought provoking with the protestations about the world we live in often relevant to any time in and beyond living memory with one tale stretching as far back as the American civil war.
The album opens with Board Up the Windows, a hard driving raw voiced hillbilly protest song with banjo and fiddle leading the way at a furious pace on a tale of what can happen to a town when the money men and developers want it! The Hearse Driver starts at a suitably funereal pace with a mournful clarinet and banjo, soon joined by a Hammond organ on a tale summed up by the title but telling the story of the effects on the life and hopes of the subject. Miss Rosie is an excellent medium paced fiddle driven song that sounds as old as the hills on this old timey atmospheric civil war tale about a deserter who senses the hounds on his trail. A really descriptive scary tale! Working Dream is another song that creates an excellent ramshackle hillbilly atmosphere with a quite original sound
but always with the fiddle and banjo driving the song along, on a tale of a family that has lived for several generations in poverty using ‘a pair of gold cuff links’ to signify the poverty. Again, it could easily be a decades old hillbilly song of protest at the hardships faced by the poor. Two Flags is a really nice banjo and fiddle driven ballad that probably contains Al’s best vocal on the album, not
that there is anything wrong with the others, with an accordion coming in midway to add to the folksy mix on a really sad song of widowhood. Finally album closer Tired Ghostly Town is another
incredibly well written, descriptive sad song with another excellent vocal on a tale of a steel town that had a disaster in the past and is now little more than a ghost town, but as that’s where his roots are it’s difficult to leave. In the background is a lovely brushed snare with guitar and bass, finishing up with a trumpet sound that signals the end of a short but epic album of incredibly well written, arranged, played and produced songs with Al’s emotive vocals being the icing on a tremendous album that takes the listener on a roller coaster of emotions!
http://www.alscorch.com
Al plays with a mixture of musicians depending on who is free to tour, but his current core line up is:
Charlie Malave - bass
Cris Castellan - percussion
Felipe Tobar - fiddle
Al Scorch - vocals, banjo & Guitar
Hopefully they will be in the U.K. in 2013, don’t miss them!
(Released 19-11-12)
4****
It’s difficult to know where to start describing this album that kicks off by convincing the listener it is going to be a recording of speedy Appalachian hoe down music and ends up as a tremendous modern day folksy alt.
country disc. From that description alone it should be obvious you are not going to hear mainstream country music, but country music it most certainly is and pleasingly, very close to the left wing!
The lineup on this recording is Al Scorch on vocals, banjo, electric and acoustic guitars, Cris Castellan plays drums, suitcase, keyboards,
Ausberto Ascevedo, Paul Defiglia and Drew Salapatek handle bass on various songs, Daniel Wescott, harmony vocals, guitar and bass, Laura Carter, clarinet, Rob Cruz on Accordion, Sam Johnson, trumpet, Rev. Carl Harris, organ, Will Staler, harmony vocals, mandolin, guitar, violin and viola. It was necessary to mention everyone who plays simply because they all leave their mark on this recording that whilst ‘country,’ blends quite a few disparate instruments giving the overall sound a
feel that is difficult to tie in to any particular sub genre.
There is plenty of ‘punk’ attitude that keeps the ramshackle feel, that so befits this music, propelling these excellent songs along on an album that clocks in at less than half an hour. But what a half hour it is! The arrangements are tremendous, the playing and the vocals, whilst excellent, have
an appealing rawness, again so befitting this edgy music. Al Scorch’s songs are incredibly literate and tell some quite compelling tales, some of which could almost make this a protest album with their hard hitting lyrics, but can just as easily be listened to for the pure musicality and the often hillbilly
atmosphere. Many are thought provoking with the protestations about the world we live in often relevant to any time in and beyond living memory with one tale stretching as far back as the American civil war.
The album opens with Board Up the Windows, a hard driving raw voiced hillbilly protest song with banjo and fiddle leading the way at a furious pace on a tale of what can happen to a town when the money men and developers want it! The Hearse Driver starts at a suitably funereal pace with a mournful clarinet and banjo, soon joined by a Hammond organ on a tale summed up by the title but telling the story of the effects on the life and hopes of the subject. Miss Rosie is an excellent medium paced fiddle driven song that sounds as old as the hills on this old timey atmospheric civil war tale about a deserter who senses the hounds on his trail. A really descriptive scary tale! Working Dream is another song that creates an excellent ramshackle hillbilly atmosphere with a quite original sound
but always with the fiddle and banjo driving the song along, on a tale of a family that has lived for several generations in poverty using ‘a pair of gold cuff links’ to signify the poverty. Again, it could easily be a decades old hillbilly song of protest at the hardships faced by the poor. Two Flags is a really nice banjo and fiddle driven ballad that probably contains Al’s best vocal on the album, not
that there is anything wrong with the others, with an accordion coming in midway to add to the folksy mix on a really sad song of widowhood. Finally album closer Tired Ghostly Town is another
incredibly well written, descriptive sad song with another excellent vocal on a tale of a steel town that had a disaster in the past and is now little more than a ghost town, but as that’s where his roots are it’s difficult to leave. In the background is a lovely brushed snare with guitar and bass, finishing up with a trumpet sound that signals the end of a short but epic album of incredibly well written, arranged, played and produced songs with Al’s emotive vocals being the icing on a tremendous album that takes the listener on a roller coaster of emotions!
http://www.alscorch.com
Al plays with a mixture of musicians depending on who is free to tour, but his current core line up is:
Charlie Malave - bass
Cris Castellan - percussion
Felipe Tobar - fiddle
Al Scorch - vocals, banjo & Guitar
Hopefully they will be in the U.K. in 2013, don’t miss them!