Despite all the dire predictions, there’s still an awful lot of really good music out there at the moment. The downside of this is that it can be difficult to make your songs stand out from the rest. Rachael Sage passes the old grey whistle test on “Try Try Try” with a slightly unusual arrangement, using a combination of slightly distorted violin and electric guitar as lead instruments and a mix of electric and acoustic guitars. It’s easy to see why this made number six on the radio chart in the US; it opens like a Tom Petty song before the intimate, close-miked vocal cuts through, followed by an outrageously catchy violin hook. For the soul fraternity, there’s horns and a Hammond; there’s even a violin solo closely followed by a guitar solo and an acoustic breakdown. All the elements for a great single are there and they’re put together beautifully.
“Try Try Try” is released on Friday September 30th and Rachael’s album “Choreographic” follows on Friday November 11th on Mpress Records.
If you want to see Rachael in London, she’s playing at The Troubadour on Friday September 23rd.
Here’s the audio-only clip of the single:
It’s hard to think of a point in my lifetime when the banjo was ever seen as fashionable and its reputation hasn’t been helped by John Boorman’s product placement in “Deliverance”; even the ukulele’s a lot more socially acceptable. You don’t find twenty people playing an ensemble banjo version of “Bad Moon Rising” in basements of London pubs (I was only going to the toilet and now I have that horrible, indelible memory to haunt me). Anyway, what I’m saying is that the banjo’s become the guitar’s weirdo cousin that no-one invites to parties, which is a bit unfair. Have a listen to Al Scorch, and you might realise that our little five-stringed friend isn’t such a weirdo after all.
Al’s from Chicago, he’s a tremendous banjo player /singer/songwriter and his second album “Circle Round the Signs” might just change your preconceptions. The banjo playing takes centre stage on the album, but it’s not just about banging out five hundred notes a minute. His style has a bit of a punk attitude at times, but the slower “Poverty Draft” and “Lonesome Low” (imagine “Harvest”-era Neil Young with a banjo) are great songs that offer a contrast to the fast and furious opener “Pennsylvania Turnpike” and the harmonica-fuelled Woody Guthrie cover “Slipknot”. As an even greater contrast, the lovely midtempo “City Lullaby” evokes theme tunes from seventies American TV shows.
Ten tracks, heaps of inventive arrangements (including a couple that feature French horn) and some deft dynamic shifts; “Circle Round the Signs” is out now on Bloodshot Records (BS 241).
If you want to see Al live (and you really should), he’s currently touring the UK and his remaining dates are:
Friday September 9 The Square & Compass, Worth Matravers
Saturday September 10 Dacorum Folkfest, Hemel Hempstead
Tuesday September 13 Major Tom’s Social, Harrogate
Wednesday September 14 Harry’s Bar, Wakefield
Thursday September 15 Heaton Perk, Newcastle upon Tyne
Saturday September 17 The Grove Inn, Leeds
Sunday September 18 The Grapes, Stranraer
Monday September 19 The Cock Inn, Sarratt, Herts
Tuesday September 20 The Troubadour, Earl’s Court, London
You could hear huge sighs of relief in guitar shops all over Britain earlier this year when Henrik Freischlader announced his return to playing and recording music. His playing’s very accessible to all, but guitarists just can’t get enough of him. Whatever the reasons for his extended sabbatical he’s come back firing on all cylinders with a great new album “Openness” and he’s now coming back to the UK to play some dates as the Henrik Freischlader Trio with Alex Grube (bass) and Carl-Michael Grabinger (drums) working in the engine room. His playing alone will have the guitarists in the audience salivating, but he has another secret weapon; he has a very, very good blues/soul voice. This isn’t just a guitarist who sings a bit, this is someone who’s a guitarist and a singer and he’s completely at home in both areas.
If you want to see him in the UK in 2016, here are your choices:
Wednesday September 21 The Borderline, London
Thursday, September 22 ABC, Glasgow
Friday, September 23 The Flowerpot, Derby
Saturday, September 24 Yardbirds Club, Grimsby
Sunday, September 25 Komedia Studio, Brighton
Special guests are still being confirmed but the Henrik Freischlader Trio will be joined by Stuart James Band for the London gig and Ben Poole will play in Brighton.
