Posted by Pete Smith on May 6, 2008, 10:55 pm
86.144.130.130
“The Advertiser” (UK) – 2 May 2008
Once in a very blue moon comes along an album that demands your entire, and constant, attention. One such album is “Hottest Music This Side Of West Hell” (Comstock) by Giddyup. Giddyup are a quartet of Tim and Mike Ott, Lee Goins and Milo Deering, all experienced musicians who are deeply in love with western music, to an extent that Mike recorded an album called “Lonesome Cowboy” and wrote a book of poetry titled “A Cowboy Soul”. The music these four guys make on their current album is truly the hottest this side of west hell with ten magnificent songs penned by Mike and an exciting instrumental written by Tim. Tim is one hell of a guitarist and it is his picking (acoustic and electric) together with Milo’s fiddling that lifts this album to another level. Mike and Lee lay down a solid foundation of bass and drums respectively. Vocals, lead and harmony are superb and bring to life stories such as the Native American tragedy “Grey Wolf”, trail songs “Ridin’ In The Rain” and “Stampede” and the humorous “No Horse Town”. The instrumental, “Firewagon”, showcases Tim’s wonderful guitar picking, reminding me strongly of a 1980s Ricky Skaggs. Cowboy music? Yes but not entirely of the campfire variety. This is western music for a new generation. Miss it a your peril! www.giddyup.net
When one refers to a veteran performer one expects strong stories of life surrounded by equally strong country sounds. Ervin Allen is a veteran and you get what you would expect in spades! Raised in Madison, Wisconsin, Ervin was initially influenced by Elvis and his flamboyant performing style and the Beatles for their harmonies and the lyrical quality of their songs. Later his influences would include Johnny Cash, Roger Miller and Hank Snow, then Gordon Lightfoot, John Prine and Bob Dylan. The fact that Ervin has learned much from these legendary singer/writers is evident on his current album, the entirely original, “Alaska…Land Of The Midnight Sun”, and its programme of ten strong story songs. The album is long on home, a longing for and an appreciation of, with songs like “I’m Homeward Bound”, “Basswood”, “Green, Green Valley” and “Alaska” (a world-wide radio hit single). “Home” has always been a popular country theme almost as popular as “love” and Ervin explores this territory effectively with “You’re In My Memory”, “She Didn’t Love Me” and “Let’s Make A Memory Tonight”. Produced by Andrew LaValley in Wisconsin, the album features a bunch of unknown (to me) but extremely talented musicians. I do recommend you check out Ervin Allen at www.myspace.com/ervinallen
Monday 5 May is a Bank Holiday in the UK it is also the birth date of Tammy Wynette. In her 30 plus years as a performer Tammy enjoyed many hits though for most of that time she suffered stomach related problems that led to twenty-six visits to the operating table. She passed away on 6 April 1998.
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