Best of 2014

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There’s a lot or pros and cons when it comes to listing end of year best ofs or favourites. Two years ago Blabber’n’Smoke eventually plumbed for the pros outweighing the cons so this is the third time we’ve presented what, when it comes down to it, is an arbitrary choice of remembered listen. Albums that have stood the test of (a relatively short) time, the ones we’ve returned to or recommended to others in the pub. Above all it’s been fun to look back, read the reviews and see if they still stand. So with this in mind the following are the official Blabber’n’Smoke 2014 picks, in alphabetical order.

Blue Rose Code. Ballads Of Peckham Rye
Birds Of Chicago. Live From Space
Fire Mountain. All Dies Down
Bradford lee Folk and The Bluegrass Playboys. Somewhere Far Away
Cahalen Morrison & Eli West. I’ll Swing My Hammer With Both My Hands
Jim Keaveny. Out Of Time
Parker Millsap. Parker Millsap
Michael Rank & Stag. Deadstock
Sturgill Simpson. Metamodern Sounds In Country Music
John Southworth. Niagara

Random honourable mentions go to

Lucinda Williams Down Where the Spirit Meets The Bone,
The Johnny Cash Native American album reboot, Look Again To The Wind,
Danny and The Champions Of The World’s Live Champs!
Dan Michealson & The Coastguards Distance
Cale Tyson’s EP, High On Lonesome,
Luke Tuchsherer’s debut You Get So Alone at Times It makes Sense,
Petunia’s Inside Of You,
Ags Connolly How about Now,
Chris Cacavas & Edward Abbiati. Me And The Devil along with Abbiati’s band Lowlands who delivered the excellent Love Etc.,
Zoe Muth. World Of Strangers,
Hank Wangford & The Lost Cowboys. Save Me The Waltz .
Grant Peeples and the Peeples Rebublic. Punishing The Myth.
Simone Felice. Strangers.
Bronwynne Brent. Stardust.
Sylvie Simmons. Sylvie (allowing an honorary mention here for Howe Gelb who produced).
The War On Drugs. Lost In The Dream.
Lynne Hanson. River Of Sand.
Gal Holiday & The Honky Tonk Revue. Last To Leave.
And finally John Murry’s EP, Califorlonia which is brilliant and hopefully just an appetiser for his follow up to the majestic Graceless Age.

Digging through the archives it’s been noticeable that there’s been a fine contribution this year from Scottish acts who dip into or draw from an Americana well to a greater or lesser extent. While Blue Rose Code’s Ballads Of Peckam Rye features above the following are all stellar contributions to the local scene.

Dropkick. Homeward
Dumb Instrument. The Silent Beard (with the Scottish song of the year, Suffering from Scottishness).
John Hinshelwood. Lowering The Tone.
The David Latto Band. Here Today, Ghost Tomorrow EP
Norrie McCulloch. Old Lovers Junkyard
The New Madrids. Through the Heart of Town.
Red Pine Timber Company. Different Lonesome
The Rulers Of The Root. Porky Dreams
Ten Gallon Bratz. Tales From The Long Shadows

Although his album, Little Glass Box came out in 2012, Fraser Anderson is a major find of the year while another local lad, Daniel Meade unleashes his Nashville recorded Keep Right Away in January. Hopefully folk will have long enough memories to recall this when it comes to compiling the 2015 lists. In the meantime it can be first on the New Year shopping list.

The David Latto Band. The Glad Cafe, Glasgow. Sunday 27th April.

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Shamefully this was Blabber’n’Smoke’s first attendance at Southside Americana which takes place virtually on our doorstep hosted by the fine establishment that is Shawland’s Glad Cafe. The occasion was a rare Glasgow show by The David Latto Band promoting their new EP, Here Today, Ghost Tomorrow, reviewed here. The EP and their preceding self titled album both portray this young band in a fine light with some excellent writing and good old fashioned musical chops and they proceeded to confirm these skills with what was, all in all, an very fine set.

All acoustic tonight other than electric bass we were robbed of some of the electrical embellishment that they throw into the studio recordings when required but Latto and Gavin Brady’s finger picking more than made up for that whether they were scrubbing frantically on Byway Man, soloing on We Cannot Be Friends Anymore (the lead song on the EP and written by their chum, Phil Lee) or casually strumming the West Coast sound of Wait A Minute. With John Mather (on bass) and John Alexander (doing some sterling work on Cajon and a tambourine) along with Brady all harmonising the overall sound was reminiscent of seventies LA canyon bands like Poco or even the Eagles with Latto himself proving to be an assured and confident singer at the front.

There were several highlights with Here today, Ghost Tomorrow standing out with its sense of loss and regret, perfectly conveyed by the band. Every Now and Then was as soulful live as on the disc However 3000 Miles From Nashville, inspired by Shetland fisherman, Thomas Fraser whose Jimmy Rogers inspired recordings were only recently discovered, was somewhat stunning. A romantic tribute to “the truest Scottish lonestar” it captured some of the late Gene Clark’s spirit tonight. Winding up with the raucous hymn to booze, God, I’m Drinking Tonight they certainly won over the audience judging by the queue at the merch table after their set. They play Edinburgh’s Summerhall on May 9th before some dates in England and then a short tour in France. If you can’t catch them you can buy the EP here.

The David Latto Band. Here Today, Ghost Tomorrow EP

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The local talent keeps piling it on with this excellent EP from Fife’s David Latto Band. Blabber’n’Smoke reviewed Latto’s last album here saying it was a “fine slice of country influenced songs featuring some fine back porch picking and an excellent ear for the idiom.” Since then the band have been gigging hard and last summer they accompanied Blabber’n’Smoke hero Phil Lee on his European tour striking up a camaraderie with the pint sized, wise cracking, knife throwing self proclaimed Mighty King of Love. So much so that one of Lee’s songs is point man for the band’s latest foray, a four song EP released this week which they will be promoting on a mini tour of the central belt before they head off to the continent.
We Cannot Be Friends Anymore (from 2009’s So Long, It’s Been Good to Know You) shows Lee to be much more than a comedic songster with its Dylan like put down and wild mercury sound. The Latto band beef it up somewhat giving it a more pugnacious and defiant air as the guitars churn with Latto more accusatory than Lee, incensed rather than sarcastic. It’s a belter of a song and the band work it up to a fine climax. Here Today, Ghost Tomorrow brings us back to earth with a bump. Starting off with a melancholic voice and strummed guitar it soon shifts gear into a gently propulsive country shuffle with guitar shimmering in the background as Latto describes a ghost town of sorts as folk leave for brighter lights. As relevant to small town Scotland as a US troubadour singing about their homeland the badlands of Fife are commemorated here in a manner that James Yorkston might be proud of. Every Now And Then summons up some Caledonia soul with the band laying down a fine backbeat as Latto sings with some conviction although one can’t but regret the lack of some soulful horns which would add a Muscle Shoals touch. Long Time Coming wraps up the EP with a banjo backbone giving a fine rustic feel to a song of aspiration and vision that ripples from the speakers and offers evidence that Latto is growing into a fine songwriter as the song recalls the likes of Jackson Browne in his early years.

The EP’s a steal at only £5 from here while you can catch the band on these dates.

April 19th – Jubilee Hall, Burnturk, SCO

April 27th – Glad Café, Glasgow, SCO

May 9th- Summerhall, Edinburgh, SCO

June 28th- House Concert, Lincolnshire, ENG

June 29th – The Cask in Hand, Holbeach, ENG

July 1st – TBC, FRA

July 2nd – Metz en Fete, Metz,FRA

July 3rd – Le Lapin Blanc, Réding, FRA

July 4th – TBC, FRA

July 5th – Le Bouche a Oreille, Villenueve sur Yonne, FRA

July 6th – TBC, FRA

August 2nd- Moniaive Memorial Hall, SCO

The David Latto Band

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Seems these days that there’s no end to locally produced Americana with the likes of Jim Dead, The Dirty Beggars and Old Dollar Bill releasing top-notch albums this year. Well we can add Fifers The David Latto Band to this roll call as they conjure up this fine slice of country influenced songs featuring some fine back porch picking and an excellent ear for the idiom. Starting off with the breezy Like I Feel Tonight the listener might think they’re in for some fairly good 70’s influenced West coast country rock as the band coast down the highway strumming away and adding some tasty guitar breaks. A mite misleading however as thereafter they rein in the rock side and settle down to offer a more traditional sound starting off with the fast paced romp that is Byway Man where fingers fly over fiddle and acoustic guitar. An energetic rabble rouser, Byway Man gives an indication of why the band were crowd favourites at Belladrum and the Perth based Southern Fried Festival as it’s guaranteed to have an audience on its feet. Having fired up the blood with these opening songs the band hunker down around the campfire with the remainder of the album having a more laid back feel. Whether it be the Neil Young Harvest era banjo plunk of Wronged, the Whiskeytown influenced Rollin’ On, the soulful guitar on the masterly ballad Wait A Minute or the stark Black Horse with its excellent harmony singing this is where the band excel. The dreamlike Song You’ll Never Hear embellishes their sad sound with some very evocative pedal steel and is the highlight here. While Latto’s voice captures just the right amount of pathos his bandmates (Gavin Brady, Jim Hyndman, Atholl Fraser and John Alexander) add some inspired playing that could easily have been the work of the best country music sessioneers. Harking back to the opening crowd pleasers they end the album with another rambunctious skiffle dedicated to the demon drink on God. I’m Drinking Tonight. A fine debut and definitely one to watch.

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