DANIEL MEADE – KEEP RIGHT AWAY
2015 – From The Top Records
This is an incredible album of ‘real country music’ that puts Daniel Meade, with this his second recording, at the top of the pile. Everything on this tremendous album has a natural feel as it ebbs and flows through a variety of tempos and emotions, with outstanding duets, edgy party time honky tonkers, beautiful ballads and all having a naturally raw edge often with an appealing ramshackleness. The album is about as confident as if Daniel had been recording albums for decades and drives huge holes through the ‘difficult second album’ fallacy!
There is a rolling good time feel to the whole album, something that is not even lessened by the gorgeous ballads. There are few albums that can match this for life and sheer vitality, perhaps on accasions the Old Crow medicine Show (of whom, more soon!), but few others. Daniels vocal is totally unrestrained and whilst his range is good he seems to have the ability to extend himself beyond his range with sheer personality and belligerence.
That good time feel is hardly surprising when considering that four members of the Old Crow Medicine Show (Chance McCoy, Morgan Jahnig, who also produced and engineered the album, Cory Younis and Critter Fuqua) helped out on the album, along with Diana Jones and Chris Scruggs, a combination that surely explains where Daniel comes from musically as well as an example of how highly regarded his musical talents are. That lack of restraint can’t really be over emphasized. Daniel goes for everything with his whole being and yet, on some of these excellent songs there are also areas of great subtlety, particularly the ballads, a sure sign of a huge talent at work. In so many ways he is reminiscent of his friends OCMS, who are noted for their high energy virtuosic performances and
All thirteen songs on the album were written by Daniel Meade although two were Meade/McDonald co-writes. There are a variety of tempos and whilst stylistically rooted in country music he is not limited by any contrivances; just playing the music he feels and if it is close to the boundary, so be it, exactly what country music should be. So many of these tracks hark back to the early days of country music with snatches of lyrics, tempo’s, obviously the instrumentation and the all pervading atmosphere. At no time does the listener feel that anything is a copy, it is more a brilliantly natural uncontrived update of ‘traditional country music.’
The album opens with Long Gone Wrong, the acoustic guitar joined by fiddle and soon followed by harmonica and Daniel’s excellent vocal which in turn is supported by steel guitar and eventually hard driving barrelhouse piano. It is a song that is incredibly full of life and verve, getting the album under way with plenty of fire and drive, with the also excellent harmonies on a song intended more for dancing than a relaxed listening session! Piano and acoustic guitar open Always Close To Tears and are soon supported by bass before Daniel’s tremendous evocative vocal comes in on as good a country ballad as I’ve heard this year, maybe this decade! He is eventually joined by fiddle and piano and more excellent harmonies on a lost love song that harks back to the late 1950s or early 60s stylistically. Not My Heart Again is an upbeat mid tempo country song that could have been recorded anytime during the last seven or eight decades thanks to the atmosphere created. There is more excellent piano accompaniment and a melodic lead guitar solo followed by fiddle on a song that would go down well in an old honky tonk, particularly with a lovely duet vocal from Shelly Colvin that adds even more charm to the song. The Hangman Blues has some nice atmospheric dobro, piano and percussion on a bluesy country song that is thematically dark but of course there is never any real gloom on a Daniel Meade song as even this takes off as a hugely appealing and raucous honky tonker. Rising River Blues is a terrific banjo and fiddle driven blues tale with excellent harmonies, and unusually has Daniel showing a little restraint but not for long as the water level begins to rise and the song takes on some of that hugely appealing ramshackleness that can only work when it is totally natural and the musicians are having a great time which it is and they obviously are! Finally, Mexico includes a lovely accordion and acoustic guitar intro before being joined by Daniels excellent vocal on a tremendous ballad that soon sees the addition of the banjo and some tremendous harmonies on a heartrending and quite unusual tale that has a lovely reflective feel.
To say this recording is refreshing in country music is an understatement of epic proportions. I’m pretty sure that anyone hearing the album will agree that Daniel Meade is a hugely talented country singer songwriter who is unafraid to just be himself, something that in itself brings a high degree of originality and uniqueness to his music. The songs are all beautifully arranged and contain a total lack of formality, something that explains the ramshackle good time atmosphere and yet on the ballads there is a beautiful subtlety and tremendous depth of feeling. To say this a genuine contender for ‘Album of the Year’ is another huge understatement! On the strength of this brilliant album I would imagine seeing Daniel Meade play live would be an unforgettable experience. If only!
http://www.reverbnation.com/danielmeade
This is an incredible album of ‘real country music’ that puts Daniel Meade, with this his second recording, at the top of the pile. Everything on this tremendous album has a natural feel as it ebbs and flows through a variety of tempos and emotions, with outstanding duets, edgy party time honky tonkers, beautiful ballads and all having a naturally raw edge often with an appealing ramshackleness. The album is about as confident as if Daniel had been recording albums for decades and drives huge holes through the ‘difficult second album’ fallacy!
There is a rolling good time feel to the whole album, something that is not even lessened by the gorgeous ballads. There are few albums that can match this for life and sheer vitality, perhaps on accasions the Old Crow medicine Show (of whom, more soon!), but few others. Daniels vocal is totally unrestrained and whilst his range is good he seems to have the ability to extend himself beyond his range with sheer personality and belligerence.
That good time feel is hardly surprising when considering that four members of the Old Crow Medicine Show (Chance McCoy, Morgan Jahnig, who also produced and engineered the album, Cory Younis and Critter Fuqua) helped out on the album, along with Diana Jones and Chris Scruggs, a combination that surely explains where Daniel comes from musically as well as an example of how highly regarded his musical talents are. That lack of restraint can’t really be over emphasized. Daniel goes for everything with his whole being and yet, on some of these excellent songs there are also areas of great subtlety, particularly the ballads, a sure sign of a huge talent at work. In so many ways he is reminiscent of his friends OCMS, who are noted for their high energy virtuosic performances and
All thirteen songs on the album were written by Daniel Meade although two were Meade/McDonald co-writes. There are a variety of tempos and whilst stylistically rooted in country music he is not limited by any contrivances; just playing the music he feels and if it is close to the boundary, so be it, exactly what country music should be. So many of these tracks hark back to the early days of country music with snatches of lyrics, tempo’s, obviously the instrumentation and the all pervading atmosphere. At no time does the listener feel that anything is a copy, it is more a brilliantly natural uncontrived update of ‘traditional country music.’
The album opens with Long Gone Wrong, the acoustic guitar joined by fiddle and soon followed by harmonica and Daniel’s excellent vocal which in turn is supported by steel guitar and eventually hard driving barrelhouse piano. It is a song that is incredibly full of life and verve, getting the album under way with plenty of fire and drive, with the also excellent harmonies on a song intended more for dancing than a relaxed listening session! Piano and acoustic guitar open Always Close To Tears and are soon supported by bass before Daniel’s tremendous evocative vocal comes in on as good a country ballad as I’ve heard this year, maybe this decade! He is eventually joined by fiddle and piano and more excellent harmonies on a lost love song that harks back to the late 1950s or early 60s stylistically. Not My Heart Again is an upbeat mid tempo country song that could have been recorded anytime during the last seven or eight decades thanks to the atmosphere created. There is more excellent piano accompaniment and a melodic lead guitar solo followed by fiddle on a song that would go down well in an old honky tonk, particularly with a lovely duet vocal from Shelly Colvin that adds even more charm to the song. The Hangman Blues has some nice atmospheric dobro, piano and percussion on a bluesy country song that is thematically dark but of course there is never any real gloom on a Daniel Meade song as even this takes off as a hugely appealing and raucous honky tonker. Rising River Blues is a terrific banjo and fiddle driven blues tale with excellent harmonies, and unusually has Daniel showing a little restraint but not for long as the water level begins to rise and the song takes on some of that hugely appealing ramshackleness that can only work when it is totally natural and the musicians are having a great time which it is and they obviously are! Finally, Mexico includes a lovely accordion and acoustic guitar intro before being joined by Daniels excellent vocal on a tremendous ballad that soon sees the addition of the banjo and some tremendous harmonies on a heartrending and quite unusual tale that has a lovely reflective feel.
To say this recording is refreshing in country music is an understatement of epic proportions. I’m pretty sure that anyone hearing the album will agree that Daniel Meade is a hugely talented country singer songwriter who is unafraid to just be himself, something that in itself brings a high degree of originality and uniqueness to his music. The songs are all beautifully arranged and contain a total lack of formality, something that explains the ramshackle good time atmosphere and yet on the ballads there is a beautiful subtlety and tremendous depth of feeling. To say this a genuine contender for ‘Album of the Year’ is another huge understatement! On the strength of this brilliant album I would imagine seeing Daniel Meade play live would be an unforgettable experience. If only!
http://www.reverbnation.com/danielmeade