The Whiskey Charmers
2015 – Self Released
The Whiskey Charmers are a band from Detroit, Michigan a city more associated, by me at least, with the punked up rock and the fiery energy of Iggy and MC5, although there was a little softening of attitude from Bob Seger and now Whiskey Charmers soften those edges further, or do they? The nine songs on this tremendous album have a lovely sparse instrumentation in support of Carrie Shepard’s beautiful vocals but the songs themselves deal with desperation, lost love, tragedy and despair, not a million miles, thematically at least, from those former artists. (O.k. that’s a rather clichéd view of the Detroit music scene; I know there were other artists that weren’t hard rockers but that was the music I knew and enjoyed when the scene there was taking off!)
The trio consists of Carrie Shepard on vocals and acoustic guitar, Lawrence Daversa plays lead guitar, lap steel and harmony vocals whilst Brian Ferriby is on drums. All of these excellent songs were written by Carrie Shepard except for C Blues which was written by Lawrence Daversa and Carrie. Daversa’s mastery of the guitar is a perfect fit for these songs bringing a beautiful chiming, tasteful melodicism to every song on this stunning album. The three band members are fortunate to have found each other because if you took any one of them out of the equation the dynamic of their sound would be totally altered, perhaps fatally, at least for the music. When concentrating on the percussion it is evident that it doesn’t just lay a solid foundation but also anchors everything, allowing guitars and vocals to go wherever they wish knowing the solidity and indeed variety, will always be there. Not only is the percussive drive highly skilled but it also reflects huge credit on the arranger and producers for getting everything so perfectly balanced.
The sound is always sparse and has a lovely spacey, slow moody feel that has some commonality with early Cowboy Junkies, although not enough to think they are derivative; just a loose adherence to what can possibly be termed ‘country gothic.’ That spaciness evokes life on the open road, although more in terms of running away than just travelling to a particular destination. There is an arid desert air about the arrangements that has huge appeal, certainly for me and a lovely variety in the songs and particularly in the attack that is sometimes gentle, at others punchy and with a little aggression but always powerfully melodic. Overall the album has the feel of late night music but definitely not in the background!
Album opener Elevator sets the scene with it’s gorgeous melodic guitar plus percussion, joined by a lovely deep twangy guitar and Carrie’s beautiful vocals that are similar in character and texture to Natalie Merchant or Margot Timmins. This is an exquisite, if sparse, sad song about unrequited love that immediately tugs at the heartstrings. This is followed by Vampire, a highly unusual tale with more gorgeous melodic and twangy guitar sounds on another terrific ballad, this one suggesting the love of a vampire is preferable to no love at all. If that description makes the song appear to have a comedic element, don’t believe it. This is actually a desperately sad tragedy. Neon Motel Room is a much more up tempo travelling song that despite the instrumentation being the same everything has much more of a punchy feel, particularly the excellent guitar solo on this incredibly descriptive tale of a fugitive, albeit an innocent one. Can’t Leave is an incredibly sad and compelling tale of desperation that all too many people face. It is propelled by both acoustic and twangy electric guitars plus drums for support on a slow to mid tempo song that tells of an abused lover desperately trying to flee but with something always drawing her to the abuser who is ‘deep down in my soul.’ Finally, Sidewinder is an acoustic guitar led, slow, moody tale that gradually takes off with drums and powerful twangy guitar on a terrific song that uses metaphor to equate an unwanted suitor to a ‘sidewinder!’
This is high class music that is a beautiful blend of edgy country with a little dark folksiness added, summoning up a darkness that Rachel Brooke is so appealingly adept at on her albums. These often dark reflections certainly have their roots in similar old murder ballads, despite thematically a distinct lack of murders! Often I mention an album containing great beauty. This tremendous recording defines that phrase.
http://thewhiskeycharmers.com/
The Whiskey Charmers are a band from Detroit, Michigan a city more associated, by me at least, with the punked up rock and the fiery energy of Iggy and MC5, although there was a little softening of attitude from Bob Seger and now Whiskey Charmers soften those edges further, or do they? The nine songs on this tremendous album have a lovely sparse instrumentation in support of Carrie Shepard’s beautiful vocals but the songs themselves deal with desperation, lost love, tragedy and despair, not a million miles, thematically at least, from those former artists. (O.k. that’s a rather clichéd view of the Detroit music scene; I know there were other artists that weren’t hard rockers but that was the music I knew and enjoyed when the scene there was taking off!)
The trio consists of Carrie Shepard on vocals and acoustic guitar, Lawrence Daversa plays lead guitar, lap steel and harmony vocals whilst Brian Ferriby is on drums. All of these excellent songs were written by Carrie Shepard except for C Blues which was written by Lawrence Daversa and Carrie. Daversa’s mastery of the guitar is a perfect fit for these songs bringing a beautiful chiming, tasteful melodicism to every song on this stunning album. The three band members are fortunate to have found each other because if you took any one of them out of the equation the dynamic of their sound would be totally altered, perhaps fatally, at least for the music. When concentrating on the percussion it is evident that it doesn’t just lay a solid foundation but also anchors everything, allowing guitars and vocals to go wherever they wish knowing the solidity and indeed variety, will always be there. Not only is the percussive drive highly skilled but it also reflects huge credit on the arranger and producers for getting everything so perfectly balanced.
The sound is always sparse and has a lovely spacey, slow moody feel that has some commonality with early Cowboy Junkies, although not enough to think they are derivative; just a loose adherence to what can possibly be termed ‘country gothic.’ That spaciness evokes life on the open road, although more in terms of running away than just travelling to a particular destination. There is an arid desert air about the arrangements that has huge appeal, certainly for me and a lovely variety in the songs and particularly in the attack that is sometimes gentle, at others punchy and with a little aggression but always powerfully melodic. Overall the album has the feel of late night music but definitely not in the background!
Album opener Elevator sets the scene with it’s gorgeous melodic guitar plus percussion, joined by a lovely deep twangy guitar and Carrie’s beautiful vocals that are similar in character and texture to Natalie Merchant or Margot Timmins. This is an exquisite, if sparse, sad song about unrequited love that immediately tugs at the heartstrings. This is followed by Vampire, a highly unusual tale with more gorgeous melodic and twangy guitar sounds on another terrific ballad, this one suggesting the love of a vampire is preferable to no love at all. If that description makes the song appear to have a comedic element, don’t believe it. This is actually a desperately sad tragedy. Neon Motel Room is a much more up tempo travelling song that despite the instrumentation being the same everything has much more of a punchy feel, particularly the excellent guitar solo on this incredibly descriptive tale of a fugitive, albeit an innocent one. Can’t Leave is an incredibly sad and compelling tale of desperation that all too many people face. It is propelled by both acoustic and twangy electric guitars plus drums for support on a slow to mid tempo song that tells of an abused lover desperately trying to flee but with something always drawing her to the abuser who is ‘deep down in my soul.’ Finally, Sidewinder is an acoustic guitar led, slow, moody tale that gradually takes off with drums and powerful twangy guitar on a terrific song that uses metaphor to equate an unwanted suitor to a ‘sidewinder!’
This is high class music that is a beautiful blend of edgy country with a little dark folksiness added, summoning up a darkness that Rachel Brooke is so appealingly adept at on her albums. These often dark reflections certainly have their roots in similar old murder ballads, despite thematically a distinct lack of murders! Often I mention an album containing great beauty. This tremendous recording defines that phrase.
http://thewhiskeycharmers.com/