QUARTERNOTES
Tim O’Brien and Darrell Scott are a cou- ple of out of his world pickers, and their new live release, We’re Usually a Lot Better Than This (Full Light) is a smoking hot record. Recorded during a pair of charity shows at The Grey Eagle in Asheville, NC in 2005 and 2006, the recording features some of the finest playing to be found on any record any- where. Great originals like “Climbing Up a Mountain” and “The Hummingbird” are mixed in with some red hot arrangements of songs by Townes Van Zandt, Hank Williams, Keith Whitley, and Gordon Lightfoot, among others. “Scott’s own “Long Time Gone,” a hit by The Dixie Chicks, sounds amazing in the bands of the author, and the closing medley of “When There’s No One Around” and “Will The
Circle Be Unbroken” is yet another highlight on this outstanding
record...Shake it Down from Six Market Blvd. is one of those CDs I have had on my desk for several months and never gotten around to playing. I really believe it’s because the album cover is sort of bland. Of course, that’s where the blandness ends. The music is really good, fun stuff. Clayton Landua has a unique and interesting vocal sound, and the band appear to be top notch pickers. And then there are the songs. All good. I tried to think of a band to com- pare Six Market Blvd. to, but I can’t. All I really know is, I like it a lot. I love “Stand”- and “Getting Older” is a moody tune with really well written lyrics. At times, the music is vaguely reminiscent of 60’s or 70’s bands
like The Byrds, but this band is absolutely original. Good stuff... The Due South Band is a young Southern Rock outfit from Spartanburg, SC who have released an impressive DIY album called Country Ways. The quartet obviously grew up with the music of their forefathers, Charlie Daniels and The Marshall Tucker Band. The album is by no means a polished, perfect record, but guess what? There are some really cool moments. I love “Friday Nights in Carolina.” It’s just an hon- est tune with some nice guitar work. The number one rule in writing, whether it is books or songs, is “write what you know.” Due South has done that. They don’t sing about New York, drugs and money. They sing about drinking a beer and kicking up a little dust
with friends, pulling out that rifle and going hunting, or camping out down by the creek. Nice images. “Long Hard Haul” is a good one. Very Charlie Daniels Band sounding, until it directly cops the riff from Tucker’s “24 Hours at a Time,” perhaps as a tribute. And then there is the title similarity to MTB’s “Long Hard Ride.” “Country Ways” has the Bocephus stamp all over it. A little “Country Boy Can Survive” mixed with a dose of Southern Rock. Actually, some of the words are a little too much like Hank’s song, but hey, the guys are certainly modeling them- selves after some of the best.
www.reverbna-
tion.com/theduesouthband...That good ol’ Southern band, KISS, has released one of their finest albums in years. Monster
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