summer's musical opening

A few notes on music as the month opens, I can't help myself.


It took well over a month to arrive but my shipment that included the new EP from Justin Earle, and the newest from UK-based american wunderkinds, Redlands Palomino Company, finally arrived. Both are worth the wait for different reasons. Justin Earle (under the moniker that includes his middle name, Townes) is Steve Earle's eldest child who has a distant sound of his father. I had a great opportunity to see him about five years ago in London when he, his father, and his aunt Stacey were together doing acoustic sets at the Beyond Nashville festival. Justin did a song that night that I don't fully remember but I'm guessing it could have been Yuma from his new CD. What's so very interesting in the music is that I can hear the intensity of Steve Earle in a type of music that just beyond his sound. They can both tell great stories but Justin is more a folk artist than his father; it's a short chain between them, but it's one that's long enough to hear that distinct diffence. It might all reside in Justin's pounding guitar playing laid up against Steve's strumming and chords...I don't know, I can't even play guitar. It's an excellent opening effort.


I've read some not-so-great reviews of the Redlands Palomino Co. shows in the UK. Considering that they are the sweethearts of the americana-UK crowd (along with the long-lost Arlenes) I was a bit concerned about the new CD. No worries. Maybe Alex has rubbed some folk the wrong way for a few shows, maybe the endless touring takes its toll, maybe it was an off night; the new CD sits just below their debut, and that may change with more listens. Though the music isn't the same, what Redlands reminds me of is the feeling I had when I heard the first Son Volt album: this is the perfect mix of sound, music, and lyrics that I've always wanted. I'm trying to get them to America because they'd do well here in the mid-Atlantic. Maybe a bakesale to raise money for the trip. Another top-rate CD.

The heat has taken and won't go away until September. Come at your own risk.

T.

(Justin Townes Earle photograph by Joshua Black Wilkins. Redlands Palomino Co. press photo courtesy of the band's website...see link over on the left <<<<)