A reminder that legendary Texan Singer Songwriter Sam Baker is appearing in Glasgow next week as part of a UK tour that kicks off at London Dingwalls on Monday 10th November. Sam Baker’s introduction to songwriting and live performance began as a method of coming to terms with a tragic, life-changing moment. Aged 32, taking a train ride through Peru, a bomb exploded in the carriage causing catastrophic damage and killing seven people, including a German boy and his parents who were sitting close by. Having survived, but left with both physical and psychological scars, Baker set out determined to relearn the guitar and rebuild his memory and speech. He attributes his minimalist storytelling techniques and lyrical elegance to this life changing event; his reflection on life and appreciation of each day a clear theme throughout his work. “Life is a gift. I went through a lot of bitterness- a lot of anger. But those things are toxic. Gratitude for what remains is more helpful than resentment for what was lost”
Catching the attention of BBC Radio 2’s Bob Harris with his first album ‘Mercy’ back in 2004, Baker followed up with ‘Pretty World’ in 2007 and completed the set with ‘Cotton’ in 2009; now referring to this as ‘The Mercy Trilogy.’ The trilogy maps his path of recovery combined with the overwhelming theme that ‘everyone is at the mercy of another one’s dream’. With the support of pledges from fans across the world, Baker returned in 2013 with a new album ‘Say Grace’,supported by an incredibly successful UK tour.
I succumbed to the idea of a top ten for the first time last year and if nothing else it’s been useful looking back at it over the past few days and comparing it to the list below. Was it a good year for music? I don’t know. Has there ever been a bad year? All I can say is that I’ve enjoyed listening to music this year as much as the last one and the year before that and so on. Many of last year’s list still get regular plays here so at least I liked them and the number one, John Murry’s Graceless Age has had a second wind with its eventual release Stateside. It may seem odd to have an artist with two entries in the list but both albums by Michael Rank & Stag are simply superb examples of what Blabber’n’Smoke would define as Americana; rooted in the country with a frontier outlook and a fierce regard for the common folk. And a happy coincidence to have two works from Howe Gelb mentioned also as he continues to plow his singular field. Both albums have striking images of Gelb threatening to turn him into an Americana icon, part Mt. Rushmore, part Dorothea Lange, for Blabber’n’Smoke, he’s a hero. Anyway, here’s what rocked our boat over the past twelve months.
1. Doc Feldman & the LD50. Sundowning At The Station. This Is American Music
Soiled songs and dusty ballads sounding like a wounded Crazy Horse. A triumph for label of the year, This Is American Music.
And here’s the man himself
2. Michael Rank and Stag. Mermaids. Louds Hymn
Wracked and raw country folk and rock from North Carolina’s Michael Rank. In the space of two years he’s delivered three albums (one a double disc set) that in a fit of hyperbole we said it sounded as if Keef had left the Stones in ’69, joined The Band and recorded with Neil Young frying honeyslides in the kitchen. At the very least it comes close.
3. Israel Nash Gripka. Israel Nash’s Rain Plains. Loose Music
Guitars weave and wander with a ferocity and lyricism that defies description and he repeats this throughout the album and there’s a moment in the title song where the guitars fizz and burn just like the best firework you’ve ever seen.
4. Cam Penner. To Build A Fire. Independent
“Ukuleles, guitars, banjos were strummed. Floors were stomped. Kick drums were kicked. Feet stumbled. Thighs, knees, hands, slapped, clapped. Voices strained and bent. Fingers gripped, grabbed, picked. Arms and hands flung. Skin wrapped tight strained and stretched. Body and sound thrown against wood and metal.”
5. Michael Rank & Stag. In The Weeds. Louds Hymn
No apologies for the second appearance from this tall, stick thin North Carolina rock’n’roll ragamuffin. The sonic slurry he conjures up is nothing less than mesmerising.
6. Sam Baker. Say Grace. Independent
Baker’s wounded heart goes from strength to strength
7. Diana Jones. Museum of Appalachia Recordings. Proper Records.
She’s not well known but whenever we mention her there’s a flurry of activity from folk who recognise Jones’ ability to sound as old as the hills and bang up to date, the thinking man’s Gillian Welch?
8. Birds of Chicago. Birds of Chicago. Independent.
JT Nero makes an honest woman of Allison Russell as they formally pair up for a laid back celebration of harmony singing and some Tupelo honey.
9. Dead Flowers. Midnight at The Wheel Club Hee Haw Records
Dark and deep, vocally and lyrically, a trip through North America and the soul.
Local heroes, The Wynntown Marshals survived some turbulent years with band members coming and going. With new crew on board they came up trumps with a bigger, more layered sound and another fine songwriter in the shape of bassist Murdoch McLeod who penned the amazing Tide. Topping off a great year for them the band were snapped up by the very discerning blue Rose label.
Honorable mentions
Howe Gelb. The Coincidentalist
Howe Gelb. Dust Bowl
Mark Collie & his Reckless Companions. Alive At Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary.
J. R. Shore. State Theatre.
The Coals A Happy Animal
Benjamin Folke Thomas. Too Close to Here
Slaid Cleaves. Still Fighting The War
Thriftstore Masterpiece presents Lee Hazlewood’s Trouble Is A Lonely Town.
The Quiet American. Wild Bill Jones
Amanda Pearcy. Royal street
Heidi Talbot. Angels Without Wings
Jim Dead I’m Not Lost
Rachel Brooke. A Killer’s dream
Great Peacock E. P.
Sam Baker appeared seemingly from nowhere around 2007 with an album, pretty world that just about devastated everyone who heard it. There had been a bit of a buzz about him after Gurf Morlix had handed Bob Harris a copy of Baker’s debut, mercy a short while earlier. For fans of well worn Texan tales there was a new kid on the block except this kid was middle aged, bruised and battered with a back story that astonished and a sense of humility that was in itself humbling for all who encountered him live or on disc. Having survived a terrorist bomb in Peru in 1986 Baker had been mangled and his road to recovery and eventually to recording informed and suffused his songs and there was universal agreement that he was a worthy successor to the likes of John Prine and Townes Van Zandt. say grace is his fourth album and it’s safe to say that it’s as good as his first three and it’s tempting to say that its actually better. His bare melodies have been draped in some fine arrangements, more so than on pretty world and cotton and thankfully they have survived and even benefited from being dressed in their Sunday best. While there are still stark moments (with The Tattooed Woman and Migrants standing out) and the mood remains sombre throughout there is a richness and depth here that surpasses the earlier releases. In the meantime his unique voice continues to sound vulnerable, hurt and passionate, tugging at the emotions.
Baker paints portraits of characters for whom bad luck and trouble is a way of life as an old woman sees her mother in the mirror (Say Grace) and Mexican migrants are left to rot in the desert (Migrants). The worker in Ditch complains bitterly “the crew’s a bunch of stoners, the boss is a shit, be a miracle if one of us does not get hit by a ton of pipe on a cheap ass chain swinging round the sky in this pouring ass rain”
but Baker allows these folk some ways out of their despair in the shape of either sex or religion. Isn’t Love Great tells the tale of a pair of unlikely lovers who are pillars of the community but who have kinky sex while Button by Button is a unlikely Romany tinged companion to Randy Newman’s You Can keep Your Hat On.
When these worlds collide as on Feast (where a deacon has what seems to be a wet dream) it inspires confusion and rapture, both captured on the song by stabs of angry guitar and a heavenly chorus. One can imagine Sweet Hour of Prayer by which follows being whispered urgently by the confused deacon but here Baker hands the vocals over to Chris Baker-Davies and Raina Rose for this devotional song which features some excellent piano from Steve Conn. Baker closes the album with another prayer, Go In Peace which resonates with his own life story. These last two songs were not written by Baker but presumably their faith and hope reflects that of his own, a faith and hope that has allowed him to triumph from adversity. One of the best albums we’ve heard this year.
Sam Baker is appearing at Glasgow Americana at St Andrew’s In The Square on Thursday 5th September. He always sells out so grab a ticket fast.
Carrie Elkin is an Austin, Texas based musician who is in danger of being overwhelmed by her connections. This album, her fourth was recorded in Sam Baker’s house during the Kerrville folk festival last year. Fellow festival performers accordingly appear on the album including A. J. Roach, Raina Rose and Robbie Hecht. In addition Baker himself pops up on vocals here and there and the album was produced by Colin Brooks of The Band of Heathens who also provides most of the fine lap steel and Dobro that wind throughout the songs. The overall result is a fine and appealing example of current folky Americana which should appeal to anyone interested in Nanci Griffith, Iris DeMent or Laura Cantrell and one that reflects the apparently relaxed atmosphere it was recorded in. From the laughter that opens Jesse Likes Birds to the closing chuckle at the end of the album the artists seem to be having a ball. Jesse Likes Birds opens the set, loosely based on the old Mockingbird song it’s taken at a fair clip with banjos flailing and fine ramshackle backing vocals that reflect the “live” ambience of the recording. This live sound remains throughout giving the album an attractive rough edge. The sunny disposition of the first song however gives way to weightier concerns with a darker edge for the most part delving into country blues or funereal laments (Lift up the Anchor). Elkin looks at the bleaker side of life with Shots Ring Out, a short tale of murder given a stark reading while Guilty Hands is a gospel stomp that seems to be about religious fervor and which has some excellent ensemble playing. With a tender tribute to Sam Baker (Dear Sam, with Baker joining in on vocals) and a rousing finale in Edge of the World which pumps and wheezes like an old fashioned church hymn given a Tom Waits twist this is a fine country tinged album
Elkin is touring the UK (or at least England and Wales) throughout April, dates on her website
